Safe Is Anywhere With You
by Naya's Boobs
Summary: Santana and Brittany are on the run, feeling that safety wasn't existent at McKinley anymore. It's summer vacation but it feels like anything but a holiday. Brittana AU.
1. Chapter 1

Safe Is Anywhere With You

**A/N: Hi guys! So, this is my first multi-chapter fanfic, I've been meaning to publish something for a while, but I'm totally new to writing fanfiction. If you're a little confused as to what's going on, don't worry, it will all be explained in the next few chapters! I know this chapter's short but I plan to update real soon! Please review, it'd mean the world! Any kind of feedback is welcome :) **

**So Santana and Brittany are both 18, it's summer vacation but a situation has forced them to run away from their homes.**

**Disclaimer: All rights belong to the creators of Glee, I own nothing.**

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Chapter 1

She had fucked everything up.

She shouldn't have been surprised because she had always fucked everything up. Santana was a complete and total fuck-up.

But what made that fact so much more unbearably painful, was that she had taken Brittany down with her. Something she'd sworn she would never do. Brittany wasn't just some stupid calculus exam, her abuela, her dad, some Cheerio's routine.

No, Brittany was the reason why she felt complied to wake up every single day, endure hours of Cheerio practice, deal with pricks and Finn-blubber and moronic teachers, just so she could take Brittany's pinky and hook it in her own. She was Brittany, the only one who saw Santana for what was good in her and never judged what Santana said or did, no matter how bitchy or low. Brittany, who put up with all the shit Santana started and never once left her side. Brittany, who loved Santana, who cared for her when nobody should have, _could_ have. Brittany was the reason Santana breathed, and she would give her life- anything- for Brittany.

...Yeah, Brittany was the love of Santana's life.

And Santana had fucked everything up for the both of them.

Her nails left deep impressions on the steering wheel she was gripping, her brow furrowed in frustration. She shook her head back and forth slightly needing to re-focus her attention onto the road ahead of her. The bright yellow headlights of the car seemed to be the only thing breaking the darkness as it swallowed up the otherwise empty highway. The blonde's sleeping form shifted in the seat beside her, Brittany squirmed for a moment and Santana thought she was having a bad dream until Brittany's head lolled on her shoulder as she murmured, 'Santana.' Brittany's hand slid lazily across the centre console, searching.

'What is it, sweetie?' Santana said, she took one hand off the steering wheel and found Brittany's, interlacing their fingers together. She immediately relaxed at the touch, her shoulders sagged and her breathing slowed. As long as Santana had Brittany maybe she could get through all of this, being with Brittany was the only thing that mattered right now.

Brittany hadn't answered, maybe she was still asleep. But she had said Santana's name, hadn't she? Was she dreaming about her? The Latina couldn't stop the goofy grin that spread across her face.

'Mm,' Brittany mumbled, her face was now pressed against Santana's arm. Laughing, Santana gave her hand a gentle squeeze and she stifled a yawn, glancing at the car's clock. The glowing green numbers read 1:15am. _Shit it's late, _Santana thought, _where the fuck do I go?_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: here's a longer chapter! I guess it could be called more from Brittany's POV. Hope you like it, please I ask you to review! THANK YOU :D**

Chapter 2

_I giggled as Santana's face nuzzled into my neck, she peppered feather light kisses on the skin there and her hair was tickling my chin. Her hair smelt like strawberries, I really_ _had to ask what kind of shampoo she used. I felt her warm hands slip under my Cheerio's top and she teasingly walked her fingers up towards my boobs. She dragged her fingers back and forth over the edge of the bottom of my bra. I had to hold back a shudder when the tips of her nails grazed just barely along my breast._

'_Santana,' I moaned as she began palming my breast, my hips giving an involuntary buck. She planted a wet kiss on my pulse point before pressing her tongue down and used her lips to suck on it. My hand slipped down to cup her butt and I could feel her smile as her lips curled back letting her teeth drag along my neck. It felt so damn good that I couldn't stop the small moans tumbling out of my mouth. She brought her lips to mine and captured my mouth in hers, I opened my mouth to let her tongue in and massage my own. My hips began to rock into her, needing some sort of friction there, the clothes were frustrating. It'd be a lot better if she was naked._

'_Oh,' I gasped as Santana began pinching the nipple of my bare right breast-_

_Wait, what? Bare? I opened my eyes to look at my body only to find that we were both completely naked._

_I don't even remember taking my clothes off? Was I drunk? I don't even remember drinking. Wait... I don't even remember how I got here. Where was here? Where am I?_

_No, stop thinking brain, you've got a naked Santana on top of you._ _Oh, a naked Santana. Yes, focus Britt. Focus on –_

'Britt Britt hey,'

Brittany's eyes fluttered open, the dream instantly forgotten, but immediately squeezed them shut, blinded for a second by a bright white light. Why was the light so bright? She rubbed her eyes, taking a moment to prepare herself before re-opening them. Her vision was blurry, and her eyelids felt like they had been glued together for decades. She looked up to see Santana staring sweetly at her, a small smile on her face, with a hand placed on Brittany's shoulder. Brittany's heart missed a beat, waking up to look into those brown eyes was definitely the best kind of way. She gave Santana a weak smile as she shifted upright in her seat.

'Wake up, we're here,' Santana said before pulling away to unbuckle her seatbelt.

'I am awake,' Brittany huffed. She reached to unclasp her own and rolled her shoulders back, stretching the muscles that had become bunched up and taut from sleeping in the odd position she had been in. Santana laughed, her laugh sounded like bells chiming, light and airy and so very pretty.

'Where are we?' Brittany asked. It turned out the white light was actually just a lantern post outside the car. They were sitting in what looked to be a motel parking lot in front of a room with a faded red door, paint peeling its edges, and gold metal numbers hanging its centre. A window was to the right of the door, ugly looking yellow curtains hung limply on the inside.

'Some motel off the Highway,' Santana said, 'it's the least axe-murderer-prowling-looking motel I could find.' She turned to look at Brittany, taking a sharp breath. That little smile she wore when Brittany had woken up fell.

'Are you okay?' Santana said quietly.

'Are _you?_' Brittany said leaning over the console to push a strand of hair out of Santana's face, the brunette's eyes fell to her lap, her lip quivering.

'That doesn't matter,' Santana answered, her eyes lifting briefly to glance at Brittany's. Brittany's heart clenched as the brunette eyes started to water.

'You do.' Brittany said. Santana's mouth opened then closed, like she was trying to find the words to say but she kept coming up short. There was a long silence in the car, but neither of them seemed to have the strength to break it or even move. They just sat there, looking at each other.

'I'm so fucking sorry,' Santana cried suddenly and her tears finally spilled over the edge, confused Brittany pressed her palm to Santana's cheek using her thumb to brush away the damp streaks. She tried to hush her as Santana's shoulders began to shake, her face scrunched up as tried to re-capture the loose tears that fell. Watching Santana cry was all kinds of wrong. It was like watching a helpless trapped animal; like that time when she saw a dolphin in that documentary that got caught in one of those horrible fishnets. It was heartbreaking and sickening and brought tears to your eyes.

'Why? Don't be Santana - Baby, look at me.' Brittany said pressing her other hand to Santana's cheek to hold Santana's face between her hands, forcing the brunette to make eye contact. Santana opened her eyes slowly to look back at Brittany. It hurt Brittany so much to see her girlfriend cry, whatever made Santana cry should never ever have come into existence, it was her duty to protect her from that. And she was failing miserably.

'This. Isn't. You're. Fault,' said Brittany, enunciating each word clearly, 'okay?'

'Yes, it is Brittany. Don't you see?' Santana cried. Her chest heaved, rising and falling in an unsteady pattern. She pulled her face from the blonde's grasp, 'This would have never happened if it wasn't for _me, _me and my dumb fuckingmouth.'

'You're not dumb San –'

'If it wasn't for me practically telling the whole fucking _world_ about us, we wouldn't be here.' Santana's crying became more frantic, her face crumpled, 'We wouldn't be running away, you wouldn't have to leave your family, leave all your friends. And I let Shannon, that fucking mutt, _hurt_ you. This never should have happened. I never should have let them get to you – it _is _my fucking fault.' She slammed her hands down on the steering wheel, causing Brittany to jump.

Brittany had never seen Santana so angry, and she felt so terrible because if it wasn't for _her _Santana would never have had to tell anyone about us. If it wasn't for her, Santana wouldn't have to worry. 'Santana, shut up. This _isn't your fault_ -'

'I should have stopped them! I didn't even protect you,_ I should have been there!' _She screamed, she started thumping her head against the steering wheel muttering, 'stupid. Stupid. Stupid.' Brittany tore her head away from the wheel gripping Santana's shoulders roughly to face her.

'_Santana, listen to me_.' Said Brittany, looking Santana straight in the eye, she held her shoulders in place and her erratic breathing slowed. 'Don't you _dare _blame all this on yourself, this isn't your fucking fault' –Santana's eyes widened, Brittany never cursed – 'I love you, okay? You couldn't protect me that time; there was no way you even could have. Shannon and those girls didn't even hurt me that bad-'

'_THEY CRACKED YOUR GOD DAMN RIBS BRITTANY. H_ow_ is that not bad?' _Santana screamed, starting to sob again, the pain she was feeling, Brittany just couldn't make sense of. 'I'm so sorry, Brittany. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry-'

'I'm fine, okay?' Brittany said quietly. The cracks in her ribs had healed completely - they really didn't even hurt that much anymore. The day she was pummelled and beaten by Shannon and a few homophobes was one of the worst in Brittany's life, if it wasn't for needing to heal, Brittany was sure Santana would have taken her away right there and then. After that day, things didn't get any better, in fact it turned for the worse, and Brittany could see how affected Santana was by everything. Brittany wasn't the only one dealing with the consequences of their relationship. Santana was afraid, more pissed than usual and worst of all, she looked so guilty and Brittany knew it was because Santana felt she had failed her. Everything had gotten so out of control that one night after school Santana had stormed into Brittany's house, crying, and told her they were leaving, no questions asked. And of course Brittany listened. They needed to get away. Away from Shannon and McKinley everyone who thought what they were, what they did, was wrong.

This unnecessary pain Santana was feeling now, Brittany wanted to burn, wanted to crush it, _kill _it, for making Santana feel like this. She should _never _feel like this. All Brittany wanted to do was heal Santana, so badly, but she just didn't know how. This was not something Brittany was used to, Santana blaming herself. Usually there was always someone else to blame and in Brittany's eyes Santana was never the bad, Santana should have seen that too. Santana should have seen things through Brittany's eyes and maybe then she'd understand that none of this was her fault.

'Please, Santana. Don't be sorry, I'm okay.' Brittany hadn't realised that silent tears were falling down her own face until Santana reached over and wiped them away with the back of her hand. That made Brittany feel silly for crying, it was Santana who was hurting after all. Needing to be strong for Santana, she tried to stop her pointless tears.

'I _love _you. I will never stop loving you.' Santana whispered, she placed her other hand on Brittany's and looked into her eyes earnestly, 'I'm so sorry for everything. I just wanted you to be happy and I had promised myself that above all, you were the one thing I needed to protect. Knowing that I couldn't was the worst thing I've ever felt in my life. But we're out of Lima now, okay? Where gonna go somewhere where nobody can hurt you.'

All Brittany could do was sit there and nod. She wanted to argue, but she knew Santana wouldn't stop blaming herself, not tonight anyway. Santana leant closer to Brittany and pressed a gentle kiss, wet from the tears, on her lips. She intended to pull away but, without really thinking to, Brittany's hands flew forward and clutched the brunettes head fiercely, holding Santana's face to hers. It was crazy and a little embarrassing, how desperate Brittany felt, but she just needed Santana's lips on hers more than she needed air to breathe. Brittany pushed her tongue in Santana's mouth when the brunette's lips parted slightly.

Brittany really loved kissing Santana, more than anything in the world. And that magical, warm and happy feeling she got when she kissed her now was just as strong as it was the first time. Kissing was just so simple, less complicated than everything that was going on in their lives and to just _know _she could kiss Santana without being afraid of who could see them, felt extraordinary. All Brittany felt like doing was to kiss Santana over and over again, kiss her for the rest of her life.

'Britt,' Santana mumbled against her lips. Brittany didn't really feel like speaking, not when kissing Santana was the other option, so she kissed her harder taking Santana's bottom lip between her own and lightly sucked it. Santana pressed a palm against Brittany's chest, softly pushing her away. Brittany would have felt hurt or mad or something but Santana had to giggle and it was really cute and she didn't think she could get mad at Santana when Santana giggled like that.

'Stop,' Santana ordered, breathless, 'we have to get out of this car. My ass hurts from sitting on my ass all day.'

'Say ass one more time.' Brittany said pulling away to admire how hot Santana looked with her hair tousled like that.

'Ass.' Santana grinned and pressed a quick kiss on Brittany's lips but pulled away before she could trap her again. Santana pushed the car door open and stepped out and Brittany did the same. Feeling slightly perverted, Brittany watched in awe as Santana clasped her hands above her head and stretched her back, Brittany's heart faltered a bit when the Latina's top rode up a little and the blonde could see the outlines of Santana's exposed smooth abs. God she was a pervert. Shaking her head at herself, Brittany turned to walk to the boot of Santana's black Jeep.

'Could you open this up?' Brittany asked, holding the handle.

'Oh right, yep.' Santana said digging her hand in her pocket. The sound of keys jingled as Santana fumbled her fingers around and then there was a soft _click _as she pressed the button that unlocked the boot.

Brittany lifted the boot door and Santana came to her side as they unloaded the three heavy suitcases. Honestly, Brittany was pretty sure two of them were Santana's. And one of them held nothing but shoes. But Brittany couldn't really remember because they had been packing things in such a rush and it was dark and she couldn't really see anything. They dragged the suitcases to the motel room door and Brittany waited as Santana pulled out the room key from her jean pocket. The air felt chilly on Brittany's skin and she was thankful when Santana managed to shove the door open so they could step inside, safe from the cold.

The room was dull and cramped, but it could have been a lot worse. A queen sized bed took up just about the whole space and in far right corner was a dresser with and old dusty TV sitting atop it and a mini fridge beside it. The bathroom was to the left corner and you could see the ugly yellow shower curtain hanging limply there, that matched the window's curtains, through the open door. Santana put their bags away on top of the luggage stand they had set up.

'That TV looks like it could explode any minute.' Santana said sitting herself on the edge of the bed, looking stressed and tired. Brittany knew Santana still felt bad about everything. 'It looks as ancient as Coach Sylvester's ovaries.'

Brittany tried to seductively walk over to her girlfriend, a sly smile on her face. Santana looked up at her with wide eyes when the blonde straddled her hips.

'We don't need no TV to keep us entertained, S.' Brittany said, leaning forward so that she fell onto her back, hearing the soft _whoosh_ of air as it escaped out of Santana's chest. Brittany tilted her head and kissed her as Santana's arms wound around her waist pulling Brittany into her, but Santana's mouth felt unresponsive and slow.

'You're tired.' Brittany stopped to analyse Santana's face. The Latina's eyes were half closed, but definitely not in that aroused way it should have been.

'No, I'm not.' Santana mumbled trying to reach her neck forward to kiss Brittany but she pulled further away.

'You are too!' laughed Brittany, she lifted off some of her weight so Santana could scoot higher up the bed, Brittany then crawling back on top of her. 'You've been driving all day. You need to rest.' Brittany said, pecking Santana once on the lips before rolling off and lying by her side. The brunette turned to face Brittany and curled into her body, Santana's eyes were closed and although they were both still fully clothed Brittany could see Santana would be fast asleep any second now.

'Am not,' she slurred and Brittany laughed again, the blonde wrapped an arm around Santana's shoulder, hugging Santana closer to her and the Latina buried her face into Brittany's collar bone. Brittany was just as happy to lie there snuggling till they fell asleep, and that's just what they did.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: WARNING: Smut. But what else did you expect? Please tell me if you liked it and review! :) Feedback is welcomed and I'm open to any suggestions Also, you might find it slightly interesting (or not) that I had 'Songbird' playing as I wrote this and there was a lot of love in my heart but I don't think the song actually suits the contents of this chapter, so I don't recommend you listen to this as you read. Or you could. Whatever :P I apologize for any errors, I did my best to clean it up!**

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Chapter 3

'_Fucking disgusting, _dyke_!' Shannon spat her fist connecting with my stomach, I doubled over, the pain ripping through my ribs was blinding, why were they doing this? Please stop. Please don't. My tears were blurring my vision. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't hear. There was a ringing in my ear and everything felt numb, I felt outside of my body and yet I could still feel the searing pain rippling its way across my body. _

'_Get out of our fucking school.'_

'_Don't want to catch your disease.'_

'_That's so feral. Wrong.'_

_The words kept buzzing around my skull and I couldn't get them out. I watched in horror as Shannon's face contorted and darkened, her eyes melted away and the dozen other girls surrounding me faded into blackness. They became shadows, but I could still hear what they were saying and each word felt like a bullet in the heart. I needed to get away. I wanted to disappear. I tried to move but my limbs didn't work, nothing worked._

'_You're nothing.'_

'_How can you're mother even love such an abomination?'_

_No, I tried to scream but no words came out. I couldn't find my body, but I still felt the pain._

_And then a fist rammed into my ribcage again and I heard a sickening crack, it was dull and sharp at the same time and it felt like somebody had put a red hot iron against my body. I screamed the only thing I could even think of._

'_Santana!'_

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Brittany woke with a start, palms sweating and her heart thrumming rapidly in her chest. Panic seemed to seize her throat.

_It was just a dream_, Brittany thought, _only a dream._

But the fact is it wasn't. Everything she had seen behind closed lids in her subconscious was real, it had happened, all of it _was _real. Not a dream, a real life and true nightmare.

The difference between nightmares and life was that life was a thousand times crueller. In nightmares, there was always the saving hope that you would wake up and it would be over. In reality you could never wake up, you could never shake away the shadows, you can't just escape, there's not a dream to wake up from, nothing to save you.

Brittany's life was like living in a real nightmare, not just reality, because she felt like she could wake up and her troubles would end. But the only thing that could wake her up was Santana. Santana was like her dream, she was like the first light that hits your face and pulls you from your slumber. Brittany had to constantly ask herself whether this wasn't all just a dream. Santana was too perfect, and she could still not believe that this - Santana – was all hers and real.

The blonde looked at the Latina who lay sound asleep beside her, oblivious to the world. Brittany let a soft smile spread on her lips, Santana looked so peaceful. The hard stress lines of her forehead were gone, now smooth; her eyebrows were relaxed, no longer tight knit; her lips were soft, no longer pressed into a thin line. The pissed, angry Santana was gone, here now in sleep she was just Santana. And she was so beautiful.

Brittany couldn't help but reach out and stroke Santana's cheek with the back of her hand, loving the warmth that radiated underneath her hand, the brunette didn't stir. She then leant forward slowly and pressed her lips onto Santana's. Sighing as she pulled away to find Santana's deep chocolate eyes open, smiling contently at her. Brittany's heart never failed to skip a beat whenever Santana smiled at her.

'Well, that was nice.' Santana grinned.

'Good morning,' Brittany said, returning the grin and rested her head in her palm as she propped herself onto her elbow.

'Please, by all means, continue,' Santana said with a wink, her gaze shifting from Brittany's crystal blue eyes down to her lips and then back up, she bit down on her own lip. Brittany's grin grew wider, not missing the aroused glint in Santana's eye.

'Only 'cause you said please.' Brittany pressed her lips once more to Santana's, lightly and tenderly, drawing back as Santana's mouth became hungry for more. Santana groaned, missing the contact. The blonde then swung a leg over Santana's hip, rolling over to straddle Santana. She leant over, placing a hand beside Santana's head and caught Santana's lip between her own. Her tongue pressed against the top of the brunette's lips, which in turn parted happily. The blonde glided her tongue in to meet Santana's own.

The kiss was soft, slow and passionate as they explored the taste of each other's mouth. They didn't rush things, feeling like they had all the time in the world. Brittany lifted one hand to smooth the raven hair away from Santana's face, lingering on the Latina's cheek. Not breaking the kiss, she let her hand fall down to the curve of Santana's neck and, keeping her touch light, dragged her hand down to cup Santana's breast. The Latina shivered and a small moan escaped against Brittany's mouth, her desire growing.

Brittany curled her other hand into Santana's glossy hair and pulled her up gently so that she was sitting upright. She let her tongue dance along Santana's lips as she dropped both her hands to the bottom of Santana's top, peeling it upwards and over the Latina's head.

'God, you're sexy.' Brittany said, admiring every feature of her girlfriend's body, devouring her with her eyes. She then pulled off her own top, revelling in the way Santana looked over her own body, her eyes lingering over Brittany's bare breasts her face lighting up with a seductive smirk – Brittany hadn't worn a bra. Her hands began roaming over the soft olive skin, caressing every inch before she palmed Santana's breast. Santana's chest heaved and leant further into Brittany's hands; she tossed her head back and moaned, licking her lips.

The blonde brought her mouth back onto Santana and continued their kisses, but it wasn't as slow as before, becoming more heated and intense. She let her weight fall onto Santana, forcing her to lie back down and moved her mouth to Santana's neck.

'Oh.' Brittany moaned as Santana's hands began massaging Brittany's breasts and she ran a thumb over her nipple, causing Brittany to gasp and grind her hips down. She could feel her arousal seeping through her underwear. Her hands found their way down between their warm bodies to the space between Santana's legs and dipped beneath the fabric of Santana's underwear.

'_Ah,_' Santana sighed as Brittany ran a finger swiftly over her centre, her arousal pooling over Brittany's hand. They connected their lips once again but Santana pulled away once more to gasp as Brittany slid two fingers inside of her.

'Feels...so _good_,' Santana moaned her hips rolling into Brittany's hand as she slowly began to pump her digits in and out of the Latina. Her face contorted into expressions of pleasure, her breathing hitching as Brittany began circling her clit with her thumb.

Brittany was never so turned on, knowing what her hands could do to Santana, she watched Santana's face in awe, and she was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. The way her breath escaped her lips in jagged patterns, the way her eyes clenched and her lips parted in a small 'o', the way her hands entangled themselves into the sheets and the feeling of Santana around Brittany's fingers was like heaven to Brittany. It was so beautiful to watch and feel and her body felt ignited but she shuddered nonetheless.

'Oh fuck, I'm so close!' Santana murmured in a breathless voice. Brittany pushed her fingers inside harder and faster in response. She almost screamed as Santana's hand began massaging her sex through her underwear.

'Oh my god.' Brittany moaned, rocking into Santana's hands, she could see Santana's need for release growing and growing. Well, she wasn't going to disappoint. She picked up the pace with her fingers and began flicking lightly at Santana's sensitive spot with her thumb which earned a gratifying moan.

'_Brittany!_' Santana screamed as Brittany curled her fingers and pressed her palm flat against Santana's clit, the Latina's body shook with her orgasm her hand struggling to keep up the pace, rubbing at Brittany's centre. Brittany ground on Santana's hand faster, curling her hips into Santana's hand, Santana pushed aside Brittany's soaking underwear to drive a finger inside of her.

And that did it for Brittany. Her body exploded as she climaxed, her walls clenching around Santana's finger, as she screamed Santana's name over and over again as if it was the only word she had ever known. Everything felt so good and right.

Brittany collapsed into Santana, as Santana's arms wrapped firmly around her waist and they cuddled each other as they caught their breath, coming down from their explicable high.

'That was definitely a great start to the day,' Santana said with a breathless laugh, and squeezed Brittany gently.

'Definitely,' Brittany agreed. She felt like in moments like these, she wish she could just stop time and live in it forever, in that moment nothing could touch them. Nobody could hurt them, nothing could separate them, and they were untouched in their own little moment. In moments like these, everything was as it should be.

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**Please review :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: First of all I'd like to thank snixxjuice214 for your suggestions, they're really helpful! Oh and while I was writing this I had 'Scream' by Michael Jackson stuck in my head for like the all day and hopefully this chapter reflects my emotions towards the song lol! Hooray for a slightly longer chapter! Thank you so much for the reviews! It means a lot : )**

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Chapter 4

"I wish...I wish we could just lie here forever," Brittany sighed snuggling further into Santana's arms. Santana couldn't agree with her any more than she already did. She wished more than anything that they could stay in this little bubble of complete bliss, together in each other's arms.

She gazed down to the beautiful blonde in her arms whose body was radiating with her favourite post-sex glow. Taking a moment, Santana quietly studied every freckle, curve and mark on her girlfriend's body and sent a silent thank you to god for making someone as beautiful as Brittany, hers to keep. She would never really figure out how she got so lucky; she remembered the times when she wouldn't dare to dream of happiness for herself; she thought not to reach too far for fear of falling; not to hope too much. She remembered when her universe revolved around herself and that little pyramid she built herself upon, and she would shake her head at how pathetic she had been.

Somewhere in the midst of her joke of a life, she found Brittany and she saw everything that she had been missing. She didn't care how cliché it sounded, but Brittany had opened her eyes and all that Santana could see was her.

"Me too, Britt," Santana finally said. Brittany looked up and the two exchanged adoring smiles, holding each other tight in their embrace. A sudden gurgling noise sounded from Santana's stomach and she grinned sheepishly.

"Hungry?" Brittany asked with a knowing look as she laughed.

"Starving."

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"Four cheeseburgers with large fries and two large cokes and a chocolate sundae," said Santana, her head poking out the window of her jeep to speak to through the rusted intercom in the McDonald's drive-thru. Brittany nudged her in the ribs and gave her a scolding look before Santana added with an eye-roll, "please."

Santana had been incredibly thankful for having filthy rich parents and even more thankful for the hefty amount of cash that sat waiting in her trust fund at her disposal. She didn't know if they could've pulled this off without it. Her smile lessened as she thought of her parents. Santana missed her mother like crazy and a part of her thought what she'd done to her was unforgivable. Running away like she had, it hadn't been fair to her mother, not even so much as a goodbye.

The endless unanswered phone calls ate away at her conscience and she couldn't help but feel overcome with guilt. Her mom was worried sick and each voicemail she left was more frantic than the last. Santana had sent a few texts back explaining that Brittany and her were both safe, it was the least she could do.

"Um...yep," Santana answered as the crackling voice from the intercom repeated her order back to her, bringing her back to reality. She looked at Brittany and added, "Oh and can we get a happy meal too?" smiling as Brittany beamed at her.

The two girls dug greedily into their meals as they sat in their parked car, satisfying their animalistic hunger. Santana watched Brittany as she tore the soft plastic that encased her stuffed purple My Little Pony toy and began playing with it; she was so adorable.

"Baby, it looks like a unicorn," Brittany giggled between mouthfuls of her burger and walked the plush toy up Santana's arm, "all it needs is a horn."

"Mmhmm," Santana agreed taking a large bite into her own burger, mustard oozing out onto her chin.

"Gross," Brittany chuckled using her thumb to wipe the mustard off Santana's chin. She brought her thumb to her mouth and licked the sauce off.

With a mischievous grin Santana pressed her lips into her burger, smearing the mustard and tomato sauce all over so they coated her lips. She turned to Brittany and puckered her lips, "Oops. Can you lick this off me?"

"Ew, that looks _so _not yummy," Brittany laughed louder but instead of licking off the sauce like Santana had wished, she wiped Santana's mouth with a napkin which earned her a disappointed frown in response, "don't look at me like that. You're evil. Your puppy dog eyes are irresistible. It's my kryptonite, and you know that."

Santana only whimpered in response. Brittany didn't stand a chance.

Brittany sighed and leaned over to press a tender kiss on Santana's lips before parting her own to let her tongue swipe swiftly across Santana's plump bottom lip, tasting hints of the sauces. Santana sighed into the kiss, bringing her hand up to cup her girlfriend's face. Their lips moulded together and their tongues explored each other's mouths, their burgers held limply in their hands, now forgotten, and Brittany's stuffed pony fell to the floor.

The outside world was soon also forgotten, Santana let her worries fly away with each panting breath that escaped their mouths. All that existed right there and then was Brittany's lips on hers.

* * *

"_I'm going to kiss you know!" Brittany shouted._

"_What?" Santana shouted back over the thudding bass that matched the pace of her heart, unsure of what she had just heard. Had Brittany just said what she thought she had said? Santana was entranced by the way her hips moved so seductively to the music, it was so very distracting. She could watch Brittany dance all day, to be honest. The music was blasting too loud, she could barely hear what she was even thinking as they swayed and danced to the beat._

"_I said," Brittany said louder, she lifted her arms to wrap around Santana's neck as she dipped and rolled her hips, bringing her body closer to the Latina, "I'm going to kiss you now."_

_Santana's eyes widened, so she _had_ heard right. Her stomach flipped nervously and she tried to contain the butterflies that weren't making any sense to her. No, they couldn't kiss, not here. Half of McKinley's student body was at this fucking party, it would look so lesbian. "Brittany, we're drunk." Santana tried to reason. Thank god for the music, Santana thought, it drowned out the sound of the erratic thrumming of her heart and it scared her that she wasn't sure if it was from excitement or panic._

"_Soooooo...?" Brittany slurred bringing lips close to Santana's ear, her breath tickling the skin of Santana's neck, making her shiver. Brittany pulled back to face Santana and Santana couldn't help but stare at Brittany's glossy pink lips. They looked so damn kissable... they probably would taste as great as they looked..._

_Ugh no, she couldn't kiss her - that would be so weird and awkward._

_But she really wanted to-_

_But that's gay-_

_-But Brittany's so fucking hot-_

_Still gay._

_God, she needed to calm the fuck down, why was she over thinking this? Where was the fearless bitch? It was just a kiss. They were drunk, they were at the party and everyone else seemed to be getting their mack on, and plus half the guys would just _love_ to see the two sexiest cheerleaders getting in on. It couldn't hurt, it didn't mean anything. Right?_

_She felt her cheeks set on fire as the blonde leant in; completely disregarding the fact that Santana hadn't even said it was okay._

'_Wait, Britt-' but Santana was cut off as their lips connected for the first time ever in a sweet and soft kiss. Santana moaned as everything seemed to fall away from beneath her feet._

_They were kissing._

_And Santana was seeing fireworks._

* * *

"San," Brittany giggled and the vibrations tickled Santana's lips. Santana bit down on the blonde's lower lip, still wedged between her own. The blonde gasped and Santana grinned into the kiss with triumph. She brought her hand to the back of Brittany's head, twisting her fingers in the silky blonde hair and smiled inwardly at the memory of their first kiss.

_Tap. Tap._

The two girls jumped apart as somebody rapped their knuckles against the car window. Brittany flushed a deep pink in her cheeks as Santana rolled the window down to a girl, who looked only a few years younger than them, wearing a McDonald's uniform. Santana sighed frustrated at the interruption.

"I –I'm so sorry for the intrusion," the girl said, she looked terribly embarrassed and was blushing brightly herself, "but you're going to have to move."

"Why? We're legally parked in a parking space." Brittany said, her brow crinkling in confusion.

"Um... we received a complaint from a customer, I'm really sorry." the girl shifted uncomfortably, obviously wishing she was standing anywhere but there. Santana pursed her lips.

"No, that's okay, Samantha." Brittany smiled sweetly at the girl, reading her name tag, but Santana clenched her jaw. She glanced out the window to see a woman, somewhere in her mid-thirties, standing at the entrance to the restaurant glaring at them with a disgusted look. She stood protectively in front of two children as they played a game of tag with each other behind her. Santana's eyes narrowed.

"I didn't know it was illegal to kiss in public," Santana snapped at Samantha.

"I – uh," Samantha stuttered, "It's not, um we just have to request you move somewhere else -"

"What so that you guys won't have to worry about your customers vomiting over two girls kissing in a car?"

"Santana, stop," Brittany murmured placing a hand on Santana's shoulder, trying to calm her down. Santana was furious, she knew that she was being irrational and immature but she couldn't help it. Something just snapped inside of her, pushed her off the edge. It was just McKinley High all over again, everywhere was the fucking same.

She couldn't take it anymore; she's been through too much to deal with this kind of shit _again_. The feisty Latina pushed the car door open and stormed over to the mother whose eyes went wide with apprehension. Brittany almost toppled over in her rush to get out of the car, Samantha quickly followed as they made their way over to Santana.

"Santana stop! What are you doing?" Brittany called, panicking.

"No, Britt I'm not gonna move just 'cause some homophobic hag can't stand the sight of us, can't simply s_tand _the idea that her children could see two girls together," Santana hissed, then turned to look directly at the woman with her children who looked away, "oh, I'm sorry we make you _so_ sick."

"Kylie take Ben out to play in the playground," the mother said stiffly turning to her children and gently ushering her kids away, before turning back to give Santana a cold glare.

"Hi," Santana said to the woman, the venom oozed from her voice, "I'm sorry, but do you have a problem with me and my girlfriend?"

"Santana don't," Brittany begged trying to pull Santana's sleeve but she resisted.

"No," the woman said, "I have a problem with the foul display going on inside your car in a _public _place."

"I'm sorry," Santana hissed, "but why don't you turn around and take a look behind you."

Reluctantly, the mother turned to see a teenage boy and girl engaged in a very public, very heated, game of tonsil hockey. She turned back to Santana cocking her head up defiantly, "that's different."

Santana scoffed, her blood boiling now, "why because we're two girls?"

"Yes," the mother said coldly. Santana clenched her fist, blinded for a moment by rage. _This bitch is exactly the same, _she thought bitterly_._

"It's absolutely inappropriate for my children to see that-that disgusting _show _you two are putting on. I'd rather avoid that kind of conversation at all costs." said the woman sourly.

Santana was seeing red; she could feel the angry tears sting her eyes as she began to shout, "How dare you! You mother fu-"

"_Santana don't!" _Brittany hissed, tugging Santana's sleeve with more force causing her to spin around. "Don't do it, she's not worth it."

"Would she complain if she saw a husband and wife kissing in front of an open window?" Santana spat, "no, and how is us sharing a kiss in a car _any_ different from that straight couple fucking tonguing each other's face off right in front of her? And yet I don't see anyone else having a fucking conniption over it. It's bullshit Brittany, and I'm sick of it."

Samantha stood there gaping, her eyes wide at Santana's outburst, not sure of what to say. The mother looked appalled, thankful her children weren't there to hear all this profanity.

"Santana," Brittany pleaded in a low voice only Santana could hear. She gave Santana's shoulder a gentle squeeze, "let it go. Just breathe. You're overreacting."

Santana looked into Brittany's eyes and forced herself to listen to her. She took in a deep breath, trying to relax her rigid posture and collect herself. She wanted to punch something, preferably the woman's face.

"I'm so sorry Samantha." Brittany apologized looking to the poor girl who stood there unsure of what to do. She turned to the woman "I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable, we were just leaving." And without another word, the blonde dragged her girlfriend back to the car.

Santana revved the engine in silence and pulled out of the parking spot. She led the car towards the highway to drive back to the motel but not before slowing down in front of the woman who stood still there with her children, and stuck her middle finger up.

"_Santana!" _Brittany gasped, wearing a similar expression as the woman, who was looking positively flustered.

* * *

"Are you alright?" Brittany asked as the two sped down the highway. Santana didn't respond.

She couldn't get a grip on her temper, she was furious. Her head was throbbing and her cheeks were flushed, she just couldn't believe what she'd heard. No, that was wrong, she definitely could believe that. She just didn't expect to hear it from anywhere outside the walls of high school, but she could see clearly now that full grown adults were just as narrow minded and homophobic as teenagers.

"Are you not going to talk to me now?" Brittany mumbled as she watched the still fuming Santana in the driver's seat. Santana finally glanced at Brittany with a forced smile, "what? Of course I'm talking to you. I'm not angry at you."

"Well, you haven't spoken a single word this whole time." Brittany murmured.

"Look," Santana said in a strained voice, keeping her eyes fixed on the road, "I'm just sick of it all you know?" She turned into the motels parking lot and parked the Jeep in front of their room. The two sat still in the car. The sun was beating directly down on their car, it was just past noon but the car park was just as deserted as it had been when they first arrived.

"I'm sick of having to hide who I am, what _we _are," Santana didn't look at Brittany as she spoke, "It's exactly like we're back at school, nothing is different and let's face it's not going to be different anywhere in this fucking state." Brittany listened quietly, letting Santana speak, "I don't want to hide what we are, and I don't want to stop kissing the love of my life because someone wants us to. I don't want to stop kissing you because some bigot of a mother doesn't want her children to know gay people exist."

Santana was breathing heavily, she counted each breath in her head, "I'm tired of it. All I ever wanted to be able to do is kiss my girlfriend in public. I mean, did you see the way she _looked _at us Britt? She was acting like we were some disease her children could catch, like we were some foul mould on the bottom of her ugly shoe. It fucking _hurts _Brittany, and I'm so done with it all."

Brittany waited for Santana to say something else but she didn't. They sat quietly together, the only sound that could be heard was the rasping of Santana's heavy breathing and the distant hum of the traffic on the highway.

"I know it hurts sweetie," Brittany finally said, "it hurts me too, but there's nothing we can do about it. People are going to have their opinions of us; no matter how ill-conceived they are we can't change them. People are going to be people whether we like it or not, the only thing we can really do is ignore them. And you know what gets me through it all?"

"What?" Santana whispered.

"You," Brittany admitted, "you pull me through. Whenever I feel like total crap I remember all the things I should be grateful for, and I'm thankful most of all for _you_. Knowing that no matter what everyone else says; you will always be mine. They can't touch us, no matter how hard they try. You pull me through Santana. Loving you is all I need to do in my life. I don't need their acceptance - I just need to love you...what?" Brittany giggled.

"How did you get so perfect?" Santana said her voice saturated with adoration. Brittany always knew exactly what to say, exactly how to cheer her up. Brittany was her reminder for every reason why she put up with everyone's crap, every reason why she loved to live.

"Says you," Brittany blushed, "you look so hot when you're pissed." The blonde unbuckled her belt and hopped out of the car, Santana did the same.

Brittany came over to Santana's side and offered her pinky to Santana, "You pull me through." She reminded Santana.

"So do you." Santana smiled and linked their pinkies together, dropping their hands to their side as they walked towards their room, pinkies still interlocked.

* * *

**The whole back story with Shannon and McKinley will be coming up soon for those who are interested in it.**

**Did you like this chapter? Please tell me and review :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Okay so, I've been suffering the infamous writer's block (*gasp* oh the terror!) and I was feeling a little down and lost and then I'm like just write what you feel and that is what I did. But on the plus side, I just learnt to check my email and am I allowed to quietly sob to myself that people have favourited and added? Am I allowed to love you? Is that okay? **

**Also, I'd like to say a big thanks to Michelle, who's been a massive help with everything!**

**Thank you so, so much for the adds and reviews! I thrive off your feedback! **

* * *

Chapter 5

_Three Months Earlier_

Santana knew those kinds of days; she knew those days where everything seemed to pass you by in a misshapen blur. You miss chunks and pieces of time and then they all somehow mesh together in a confusing and insignificant collection of confusing and insignificant moments that made up what you called 'a day'.

The time passes you by sporadically; sometimes it seems to move too fast, other times too slow. And in that period you're strangely disappointed and unsatisfied, but you're not exactly sure of what you were hoping for in the first place. You do everything exactly the same and nothings different, but something's missing. You just don't know what. There's a void you hope to fill, but you're clueless as to how. It feels like you just spend that whole time waiting and waiting, but for what - you didn't know.

Those kinds of days made up the majority of Santana's life. Up until she had found Brittany, that is.

That's when Santana knew what she had been waiting for, knew what that missing piece she hoped to find was; what she had been waiting for to fill the void in her life.

She had been waiting for Brittany.

Brittany brought a sense of clarity to Santana's mind; she was what distinguished these hazy expanses of time from one another. Santana's life was now separated into two categories; moments _with_ Brittany, and the rest of her shitty time spent thinking _about_ Brittany.

Santana began to realise that every minute apart from Brittany was like living with that void. She felt unfulfilled. And at one point, she had tried to fill it desperately; she had slept with a countless number of guys seeking to fill the gaping hole in her life, but it never changed that feeling of emptiness inside her.

It was then she realised that Brittany was the only person who could.

* * *

"How is it," Brittany began as she stared with lustful eyes at the half naked Santana sprawled across her bed, "you always manage to be so beautiful, without even trying?"

Santana blushed, a smile spread across her lips, "I could ask you that same question, Britt."

"But..." Brittany gazed at Santana, now in awe. She was the most gorgeous thing she had ever seen in her entire life; every little detail that could be called an imperfection made her even more perfect, if that was even possible. "You are so _perfect_."

"C'mere," Santana mumbled bashfully, opening her arms to allow Brittany to curl up into her body and wrapped them around the blonde. The two lay still in silence as they watched the sun rise through the open window, the light illuminating everything with a soft warm glow. The scene was perfect, something you would expect to in a fairytale. Brittany could not believe that she was lying there, in the arms of her _girlfriend_, watching the sun rise and if felt almost too good to be true.

"Can we not go to school today?" Brittany said, pouting. She was perfectly content with lying there in bed with her girlfriend, not wanting to spend a second apart. School was cruel for splitting them like that, it seemed totally unnecessary and pointless to put them in separate classes throughout the day when it was guaranteed that every lesson was spent thinking about each other anyway.

"That sounds like a perfect idea," Santana sighed, "but we can't. We've skipped too many, babe."

It was Brittany's turn to sigh; Santana squeezed her waist before bringing a hand to brush away the blonde locks that fell in front of her face. Brittany sighed again at the thought that she wouldn't be able to feel those arms around her body like she could now, not until after school, or at least until they couldn't contain their dirty thoughts any further and crashed into the janitors closet or showers, lips interlocked, hands searching greedily.

Two months. Two months of being officially 'together' and yet they still weren't able to be public with their relationship. They still weren't able to hold each other like every other couple, they weren't able to share a kiss like everyone else, and they couldn't even hold hands in public without fearing a slushy in the face. The worst part of it all was not being able to _tell _anyone, it felt like they were hiding a part of themselves, hiding something they should have been most be proud of, and that was each other.

But, at least, they still had each other's pinkies.

* * *

"_It's a promise," Santana explained holding her pinkie out for Brittany to take, "it's a promise that I will never hurt you, it's a promise that I will always love you and it's a promise that no matter what, I will always be yours." Brittany smiled happily as she hooked their pinkies together, Santana smiled briefly before continuing, "and it's your reminder, whenever we walk down these halls together with our pinkies hooked like this, that you have something nobody else will ever have."_

"_And what's that?"_

"_My heart."_

* * *

"We should get up," Santana said finally, releasing the grip on Brittany's waist and sitting up. Brittany groaned. She missed it already.

"But I don't wanna..." Brittany whined into her pillow.

"How about," Santana murmured stroking the sides of Brittany's hips, and leant in to whisper in her ear, "if you get up right now, I will take you in the shower, and I'll push you against the wall with my hand between your legs and do things to you that you have only ever _dreamed _of."

To say Brittany was quick out of bed was a definite understatement.

* * *

"Pathetic! You call that a back handspring?" Coach Sue roared through her megaphone at the young brunette who had just completed what had been a flawless double back handspring layout combination. "My cousin Joyce could do a better back handspring than that and she happens to be induced in a severe seven week state of comatose."

The young girls face fell, tears welled in her eyes. The rest of the Cheerio cheerleading squad stood with their hands on their hips behind her, slightly dizzy from trying to capture enough air through the sole use of their noses; mouth breathing was seen as sort of a taboo thing in McKinley's six time national champion cheerleading squad.

"All of you hit the showers before that stench of complete and utter failure sticks to my perfectly scented polyester tracksuit and I'd have to hand it to the dry cleaner's for the fifth time today." the Coach ordered, dismissing them with a disgusted look.

Brittany's head felt light and airy as she walked back towards the locker room, Santana following closely behind her. Her body ached and her heart was hammering so hard in her chest she thought it was going to erupt. The wisps of hair that had managed to escape her air-tight ponytail splayed across her cheek, sticking to the sweat that dripped down her forehead.

The girls all stripped down to their underwear before wrapping their heated bodies in towels and entered their stalls. The room began to fog up with the steam rising from each of the stall's showerheads as they began rinsing the sweat off their bodies. Brittany kept her eyes down to the ground in her own stall, forcing herself to look away from the Latina whose naked body was only a meter or so away from her own.

The setting was all too familiar to her. It reminded her of the hot and heavy sex they had shared inside the walls Brittany's shower that morning and she couldn't help but shudder under the hot water that pattered against her skin. Santana's naked body pressed up against her, water cascading across the curves of her breasts as she panted next to Brittany's ear, her fingers pressed firmly inside of the blonde's core, her wet tongue licking up every drop of water that clung to Brittany's skin, and how it felt like Santana's mouth was everywhere all at once and everywhere her lips pressed it ignited her body.

Brittany had to hold back an aroused moan as she recalled every vivid image in her mind. She brought her eyes up to gaze at Santana who was looking at her unashamedly, her eyes raking up and down every inch of Brittany's body.

It was all too much.

She was now infuriated with that solid brick wall that was cemented between the two stalls. All she wanted to do was reach out and touch Santana; feel the Latina's wet body beneath her own hands.

"Santana..."Brittany whispered, her desperate eyes searching Santana's own, pleading silently to let her touch her.

"I know," Santana murmured back, biting her lip. It was clear she wanted it too, but they couldn't now, not with a dozen other girls packed in the same room.

They looked at each other, desire clear in their eyes, but the two girls forced themselves to wait out the rest of the other cheerleaders who were clueless to the sexual tension that sat between them.

Slowly but steadily, the change rooms began to empty with Brittany and Santana still standing idly underneath the water jets of their own showers. The time it took was excruciatingly painful to the both of them. Brittany felt like she couldn't restrain herself any longer; just hearing the way Santana breathed heavily beside her made her body tingle all over.

Finally, the last cheerleader slammed her locker shot and exited the room. The two girls let out a long, relieved sigh.

"I thought these bitches were never going to leave." Santana said as she slipped out of her stall, naked, and locked the change room doors. Brittany giggled, running her fingers nimbly through her wet hair, letting the hot water run down her scalp.

The blonde tried to act nonchalant as Santana slipped into her stall, standing behind her, but she couldn't hold back the shivers when the Latina pressed her lips on her bare shoulder. Santana brought her hands around to Brittany's stomach, ghosting her lips across the back of Brittany's neck.

"San..." Brittany breathed, relaxing at the touch. Santana's hands made a small trail down to her hip, teasing her. She then brought back one hand to cup Brittany's breast and squeezed it gently, and Brittany sighed as she let her head drop back to rest on Santana's shoulder. No, it was her turn to take the lead. Brittany needed to repay her for that morning.

Her resolve faltered as Santana began pinching her nipple, the tips of her fingers brushing the sides of her hips and her lips dusting the skin of her back in feather-light kisses. With much needed will power, she straightened up and turned to face the Latina. She cupped her cheek and brought their lips together in a slow wet kiss. Their lips melted together, each panting breath disappearing into the steam around them, the water made their kisses sloppy but passionate, nonetheless.

Santana's lips parted to Brittany's tongue, Brittany catching Santana's upper lip with it and deepening the kiss. She spun them around quickly and pushed Santana's back up against the wall, the Latina cringed at the sensation of the cool tiles on her skin. Brittany brought her lips to Santana's neck and placed soft bites along the skin and let her tongue drag up to the spot underneath Santana's jaw. Her hands fell down to hook underneath Santana's legs and she hoisted her up so her legs wrapped around her waist, Santana moaned as she pressed up against her.

"Fuck..." Santana moaned again, as Brittany slid her hand between them and stroked Santana's centre. The angle was awkward but she managed to slip two fingers inside of Santana's heat, and Santana clawed at the blonde's back, gasping in pleasure.

Every motion, every twitch in Santana's face, was rectifying, beautiful, and it only drove Brittany wilder. She began pumping her fingers faster inside of her, relishing in the way Santana's walls clenched around them and with her thumb she drew tight circles around the bundle of nerves which caused the Latina to shout incoherent Spanish words, bringing her closer to the edge.

She brought her lips back onto Santana's, pushing her tongue into her mouth and taking in every taste of it. Their kiss only lasted for a few moments before Santana had to break away to gasp for air.

"Oh god Britt," Santana grunted, curling her hips desperately into Brittany's hand, her breathing ragged and her nails digging deep into the blonde's back. Brittany plunged her fingers deeper in response and curled them inside of the Latina who bit down hard on Brittany's shoulder, her body tightening around Brittany's fingers, stiffening for a moment before convulsing with tremors as she fell into oblivion.

The whole time Brittany watched captivated by every sound escaping her lips, mesmerized by the way Santana bit down on her lip to try and hold back her loud moans, her fingers continued, bringing her back down. She tried to commit every detail to her memory, knowing no matter how many times she replayed this in her head, it would never surmount to the real thing. It was beautiful and delicate but sensual at the same time; she would never get enough of Santana like this.

* * *

Brittany couldn't help but feel sorry for the entire student body of McKinley High School. She couldn't help but pity that they all weren't as lucky as her. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine being able to love and be loved by some as wonderful and sexy as Santana. She looked down upon everyone else because they couldn't possibly be feeling every miraculous feeling she felt.

There wasn't a time now, that she could remember anything outside of Santana. Everything just _was_ Santana. It was like Santana was the entire world, holding a gravitational pull on Brittany that nobody else had. No matter what she was doing or thinking, she would always find herself caught in this imaginary pull and Santana would always somehow be there at the forefront of her life. No, not imaginary, that was the wrong word. What Brittany felt, the attachment and solid pull that connected them; it was very, very real.

Brittany didn't know a lot of things, but she did know what she felt for Santana was the realest, most tangible thing she had ever known. Lost in her thoughts, the blonde floated down the hallways alone at the end of biology, waiting at her locker as usual for Santana to come pick her up.

"Well hey there, baby."

Brittany looked up alarmed as a tall masculine boy leant against the locker beside her - Santana's locker - she squirmed uncomfortably as his eyes dropped to run over her long legs. She didn't like the way he looked at her, like he was thinking of her in ways only Santana ever should. It made her feel dirty and exposed, she felt like she was being used and it made her feel worthless. Like she was just some object the boy could use to enlighten his imagination and nothing more.

"With legs like that, I'd expect to see a slice like you in a Victoria Secret catalogue."

Brittany frowned, not only was this boy all up in her personal space but he was also the worst flirt she had ever met, and that was from thirty seconds of conversation.

"So, listen," he began, taking a moment to lick his lips, "here's how I figure things worked; I'm a football player, you're a cheerleader, it is like _law _that we get together. So, I'd like to take you out on date, shoot back a couple of drinks then I'd take you back to mine..."

* * *

Oh _hell_ to the no.

Some jackass was standing in front of _her_ locker, hitting on _her _girl.

Santana glared at the jock who had Brittany backed up against her locker, his arm reaching up to push a loose strand behind her ear, feeling like she could physically burn a hole into his back. She clenched her fist; her vision was tinged in a red haze. Her whole body went rigid with rage.

Nobody touched her girl like that except her - nobody.

"Back the fuck up, crater face," Santana spat angrily, shoving the footballer in the chest. "Stay away from her."

"Woah," the footballer said, lifting his palms up, "easy there, babe."

"Don't call me babe," Santana hissed glaring at him, her tone deadly.

She was done with it all. She was done with every slimy sleaze trying to get inside of her girlfriends pants; she was done with everyone constantly treating them like they were just some sex toy they could have at their disposal. She was done with everyone thinking that they could use Brittany like that, and someone as gentle and innocent as Brittany. She was done with everyone treating Brittany like she wasn't special. Brittany above everything else, deserved to be made felt special. And here they were, acting like she was some cheap whore.

And it infuriated her, Brittany was _her _girlfriend.

"How about you leave me and this lovely lady alone?"

"And how about you fuck off before I pop each and every single one of those _juicy_ pimples on your slimy ass face with razors?" Santana threatened through gritted teeth, flexing her jaw. "And she does not want to talk to you."

"Oh I have a feeling she does, don't you baby?" He turned to wink at Brittany who looked away to Santana, panicked. She looked vulnerable, weak and confused and Santana gnawed so hard on her teeth she thought they would split under the pressure. This guy could not take a hint.

"Okay, asshole," Santana hissed, taking a step towards him. "Let me break it down to you, if you like the feeling of having two very petit little balls in your pants I suggest you leave her the fuck alone."

"I'm sorry, who _are _you?" He asked, his irritation growing.

"I'm her girlfriend," Santana said, smirking at his horrified expression, "yeah, you heard me. So I can guarantee you that she is _not_ interested. So why don't you go find the balls that you just lost and leave my _girlfriend _alone?"

"Ugh," he said gagging. "I think I'm going to be sick."

Santana hesitated, silently scrutinizing him. He blanched, his eyes turned coal black, his mouth wrinkling as if he had just tasted something fowl and couldn't get rid of the sickening after taste.

Was he _actually_ going to be sick?

"You- I – ugh, that's fucking disgusting."

Santana felt like she had received a blow to the chest, completely winded. She hadn't been expecting that. Panic seized her for a moment but her fury overpowered anything else, she couldn't feel afraid, she didn't let herself regret anything.

She didn't let herself regret just jumping out of the closet, straight into the arms of her school's homophobic jock.

* * *

**Did you like this chapter? Have any suggestions? Please tell me and review :)**

**knowthescore: The whole issue with Santana's parents will be coming up soon!**

**snixxjuice214: your suggestions are awesome! I'm definitely looking into doing that after a few chapters :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Just a note that I'm still continuing with the three months earlier flashback in this chapter. Thank you so so much for your feedback!**

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Chapter 6

Oh shit.

_Shit. Shit. Shit._

What had she just done?

Santana stood there blinking rapidly, trying to sort out the commotion in her mind as her stream of conscious thoughts churned like an angry mob; voices chanting all at once, fading in with each other and words sticking out louder than others. Her indignant and vicious demeanour collapsed with her resolve as panic swept upon her like bees to a flower.

Santana couldn't bring herself to move; she couldn't distinguish between the seconds, minutes, and hours that passed. She didn't know how long she stood there, lost in the realm of her panic, paralysed completely.

Had she really done that? Did she really just out the two of them?

"San," Brittany's voice was like a spear through the fog in her mind; drawing her back to reality, "are you okay?"

"I – um," Santana stuttered, trying to form words from her jumbled thoughts. She looked up, finding Brittany's eyes and saw every reason why she couldn't bring herself to regret what she had just done. "I'm okay." She let out a long breathe that she'd seem to be holding for quite some time.

Brittany's face lit with a dazzling smile that melted Santana's heart, she took a step forward and wrapped her arms tightly around Santana, pulling her into a hug. Her hand stroked the raven hair as she whispered, "I'm so proud of you."

Santana just buried her face into Brittany's neck, not caring for the curious watching eyes around them. She breathed in the sweet strawberry and peach smell of Brittany's skin, the scent relaxed her.

"Hey," Brittany said pulling away to look at her, "we should get out of here?"

Santana nodded silently, holding her pinkie up for Brittany to take. The blonde just shook her head and took Santana's hand in her own. Santana looked down at their conjoined hands for a moment and let out another sigh, before walking towards the doors proudly with her girlfriend.

Just as a cold, hard, dripping green slushy hits them both in the face.

* * *

"_Fuck!_" Brittany heard Santana shout.

It felt like she had been slapped. The small ice chunks hitting her flesh like a whip, her eyes stung as she brought her hands up to wipe the slushy out of them. Trying to blink away the liquid from her eyes she looked at Santana who was fuming, bits of green ice clinging to her hair.

"What the fuck!" Santana screamed at the boy. It was the same footballer who they had just outed themselves to.

The footballer dropped the empty cup to the floor, "how does that juice taste, dyke?"

"_Cómo te atreves!" _Santana hissed and Brittany, making a snap judgement, grabbed the Latina around the waist and pulled her away as she tried to launch herself at the footballer who stood there watching them with an amused smirk.

The entire hallway was silent, all the students frozen watching the scene that played out in front of them. The only sound was the dripping of green slushy, falling from the two girl's faces. Santana struggled in Brittany's arms, trying to free herself but Brittany's arms pinned the Latina's to her sides. The footballer walked off, his smirk still attached to his face.

"Let me go, Brittany!" Santana cried, shaking in Brittany's arms, rage coursing through her body.

"Stop, S." Brittany murmured into her ear, and started pulling her away towards the bathrooms. She wanted to run, run fast and hard and away from everyone. She wanted to take Santana away and never come back. They entered the bathroom as the bell rang, signalling the start to class.

The Latina was red in the face behind the chunks of green that still coated her cheeks; she shrugged off Brittany's attempts to wipe off the slushy and instead went straight to the sink, splashing the cold water on her face. Brittany handed her paper towels and then wiped her own face, she could already feel the syrup hardening in her hair, sticky and gross. She waited silently as Santana tried to slow down her erratic breathing, her back facing the blonde and her hands gripping the sink.

"Oh, San," Brittany cooed pulling Santana into a tight embrace as Santana crumpled in front of her, her quiet sobs echoing in the empty bathroom. Santana collapsed into Brittany's arms, not bothering to even attempt to carry her own weight; just standing their limply, leaning fully into Brittany.

She knew Santana felt the same as she did. Crushed. It felt like she'd been kicked in the stomach, she was gutted. But it was Santana who was falling apart, not her. And Brittany knew that was because Santana had so much more to lose.

A slushy was more than just a cruel torment. It was a symbol of your denouncement. It was degrading and humiliating and it was a public declaration that you really were worthless. It told the world that you were nothing, nobody - another Lima Loser.

What Brittany feared the most is that Santana would start to believe it.

After cleaning themselves up the two girls ditched school, neither one able to face further humiliation. Brittany drove, Santana too fazed with her emotions to take the wheel. She lead them back to Santana's house, knowing neither of her parent's would be home and practically carried the Latina up the stairs into her room. They curled up in her bed, Brittany holding Santana as her sobs turned into quiet sniffles, neither of them said a word, and eventually they fell asleep.

* * *

It was becoming more of a habit that the two girls would find themselves ditching school to fall asleep in each other's arms in one or the other's bed or head to a park where they'd sit on the swings and just breathed. Santana and Brittany's mothers were worried, concerned and disapproving, not knowing quite what to do. They scolded them but their efforts were in vain, they couldn't stop them even if they tried. And neither of the women knew that their daughters were madly in love or aware of the daily torment they were facing at school. Well, they did have some inkling of an idea that there was more going on between the two best friends but to what extent they weren't sure of.

So when the school called both the mother's at work and informed them that their daughter's didn't even bother going to school at all, they decided to draw a line. Marie Lopez called Sheryl Pierce and they arranged to have a sit down talk at the Lima Bean during her lunch break.

"I don't know what's gotten into my Santana," Marie said with unfocused eyes, recalling the way her daughter had looked like she was tearing at the seams, every day the fiery glow in her eyes faded more and more, she was more drawn in – quiet. She took a sip of her coffee and met Sheryl's eyes.

"The same with Britt, ditching school like this – it isn't like her," Sheryl sighed and turned the warm mug in her hands, "and she looks like she's in pain, she's always jumpy but every time I try to talk to her she just puts on this brave face and says 'I'm okay' and it worries me."

The two mothers had been friends for quite a while, happening to have worked as nurses at the same hospital years ago before Marie met her husband Carlos and retired. The fact that their daughters had become best friends at the start of junior high, the endless sleepovers their daughters had meaning more interaction between the two, led them to become even closer.

Marie hummed appreciatively, "I just don't know what to do, and you know Santana, she's not the kind of person to just open up like that..."

"...Unless it was Brittany," Sheryl said, finishing Marie's thought. The older Latina sighed and Sheryl spoke again slowly, cautiously, "I think you and I both know something is going on between our two girls, Marie."

Marie bit the inside of her cheek, taking in a deep breath. She knew what Sheryl was saying was right but that didn't mean she was entirely _thrilled _with the idea. Her throat felt tight as she responded, "do you mean to say that our daughters are..."

"Maybe," Sheryl shrugged. The thing about Sheryl was that she was just as open minded and accepting as Brittany, appearing to have the same child-like wisdom as her daughter. So the idea of her daughter being involved with another girl didn't really bother her as much as the idea of them ditching school for reasons she didn't know. The apple didn't really fall from the tree.

"We don't know that -"

"Oh c'mon Marie, don't tell me you _never _hear them in the middle of the night."

Marie almost choked on her coffee, spluttering and bringing a napkin to her mouth as she coughed; her eyes bugging out of their sockets.

Sheryl breathed out a shaky laugh, "thought so."

Marie swallowed uncomfortably. She couldn't deny what Sheryl was saying because she _had _heard the muffled moans and giggles coming from her daughter's room down the hallway in the middle of the night, but she tried to shut it out, ignored it and convinced herself that it was nothing but a figment of her imagination. "Can we not talk about this?" Talking about her daughter's sex life was definitely not something she was up to do.

"I was just saying," Sheryl shrugged nonchalantly, "you've seen the way they look at each other - they're like lost puppies following after one another."

Marie chuckled softly and relaxed a bit, she couldn't deny that either. The truth was Brittany made her daughter incredibly happy; she brought something out of Santana that Marie hadn't seen since she was a little girl. She noticed the loving gazes they shared, how they used to fall asleep hugging and the way they'd always hold their pinkies – something Marie had grown used to – but still, having her daughter called out like that still came as a small shock. However, she'd be lying to herself if she said she didn't see the chemistry between the two girls and it made her smile. Her daughter was happy and that was what matters the most.

"Why I'm saying this," Sheryl continued, "is because I think it has something to do, well _largely _to do, with their behaviour lately."

"What do you mean?" Marie said trying to piece together all these hints to come up with the picture Sheryl seemed to have seen.

"I'm worried Marie, I'm worried that they came out... at school and that they're getting harassed."

Marie's blood went cold with dread. Was somebody hurting her mija?

"I'm not saying physically, but you know how that school works - heck Santana used to _be_ the harasser - but what I'm worried about is that it's all going to be too much for them, that it could turn physical," Sheryl said and swallowed, "I mean we don't know for sure that this is the case but something tells me I'm close to the mark."

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

"I don't know," Sheryl sighed, tapping her finger against her mug, lost in thought for a moment. After a moment she finally said, "first things first, we got to talk to the girls themselves."

* * *

Marie felt bad, like she was ambushing her daughter. Cornering Santana and Brittany like this was an un-motherly thing to do wasn't it? No, that's silly. It was for her well-being, she was just worrying about her daughter's safety. But she still felt like she was betraying her daughter; forcing her to come out like this when neither of them were even ready.

She stood at the kitchen bench and tried to focus on chopping up chillies and slipping them into the frying pan without cutting her thumb off.

The two women, Marie and Sheryl, had planned to confront their daughters tonight – in the gentlest ways possible, Sheryl assured – and decided that Sheryl would be invited to dinner at the Lopez's house, bringing Brittany with her. Neither of their husbands could attend, both caught up at work. Marie didn't mind this, in fact she was relieved. Something told her that, unlike her, Carlos would not take to this whole 'his daughter being gay' thing well at all.

* * *

_Buzz. Buzz._

Santana picked up her phone with lightning speed, opening up Brittany's text.

_Brittany: I have a bad feeling abt this xx_

Santana's thumbs tapped away at the keyboard of her phone, sending her reply back quickly.

_Santana: Me 2, do u no why they want 2 hav dinner together? X_

The Latina waited impatiently for Brittany to reply, she was sitting on the edge of her bed, elbows on her knees and her foot bouncing up and down nervously. She held her phone in her hands, her palms sweating. Her phone buzzed again.

_Brittany: Nope, she just said it'd b nice 2. This is weird. x_

_Santana: I no right xx_

Santana paused before quickly sending another text.

_Santana: u don't think they no do they? Xx_

Santana was nervous. She had been nervous ever since her mother came home and announced that Sheryl was going to pop by and have dinner together with them, Brittany too. It was suspicious to say the least.

Everything felt odd, like something was planned for the two of them and she was just prancing her way into this trap their mothers had set for them. The fact that when she came downstairs, her mother seemed to be a bundle of nerves as she scurried around the room avoiding eye contact with her daughter as she frantically cooked dinner, only further heightened Santana's suspicions.

She jumped slightly as her phone buzzed again with Brittany's reply. She bit her lip nervously.

_Brittany: I don't know...maybe. xxx_

* * *

"So, Santana," Sheryl began, sawing through her asparagus with her knife, "Brittany tells me you've been promoted to co-captain of the Cheerios, that must be exciting!"

"Oh yeah it's good fun," Santana smiled modestly, trying to relax. She felt ridiculously on edge, and tried to shake off this nagging feeling that she was going to be blindsided and it was silly, it was just dinner after all.

Santana sat beside Brittany, across from Sheryl and Marie sat at the head of the grand dining table; the air felt tense to Santana, and she'd been holding her breath for quite some time. Brittany put her hand on Santana's thigh under the table cloth and squeezed it gently, sending a silent message to relax. The gesture made Santana jump a little but she let out a long breath.

The polite discourse continued throughout the entire meal and slowly Santana let herself relax, her rigid shoulder muscles unclenching and she finally let herself enjoy the conversation. Brittany stole a quick glance at her, giving her a bright smile; no trace of worry glinted from her blue eyes instead Santana saw relief and it was reflected in her own.

Santana smiled into her glass of champagne and took a sip, placing her hand on Brittany's thigh and rubbed gently. Santana tried to bite back a smirk as the blonde flushed a light pink over her cheeks.

Marie cleared her throat, drawing the girls attention back to her, the older Latina pretended not to notice the leg rubbing. Santana's mother's hands were shaking slightly as she rested her fork and knife on the table and she found the room to become suddenly hotter. Marie did not want to do this; the nerves were rendering her mind useless and she felt queasy.

But to Marie's relief, it was Sheryl who decided to start.

"So girls," Sheryl said her tone becoming serious, she set her glass down, "you're probably wondering why we're having this little _girls _night."

The two girls nodded slowly in response and Sheryl took a slow breath, hesitating before she spoke, "Well, there is a reason for this. Marie and I wanted to speak to the both of you, about something that has us concerned."

"Is this about us ditching?" Brittany said quickly.

"No, well not entirely," Sheryl answered.

It was Santana's turn to feel queasy, this was it – she was being blindsided, they were cornering them, it was all a trap. Santana felt panic sweep upon her and her stomach twisted uncomfortably. Her defensive walls snapping back up, she tensed for what was about to come.

"Girls..." Sheryl said in a low voice that ate at Santana's nerves.

"We know about the two of you!" Marie blurted out her hands reaching forward as if trying to capture the words that had slipped out. Santana's mother flushed, embarrassed.

Santana's stomach dropped and Brittany's face paled almost instantly. Santana's pulse quickened and she could feel tears stinging in her eyes, dread consuming her. Was this it then? We're they going to disown the two of them? Kick them out of their house? Scold them? Vomit? Hate them? Or worse, tell them to break up and separate them forever? The air around her seemed thicker and she felt light headed, not able to take enough air in her quick breaths and the room felt a thousand degrees hotter. _Oh shit._

"W-what are you talking about?" Brittany tried, playing dumb. Santana felt warm hands clutch her own fiercely.

"Sweetie, we're not blind," Sheryl laughed. Santana glanced up in surprised, "or _deaf _either for that matter."

Brittany blushed a bright crimson and Santana was choking on air, she could feel her heart beat thudding in her ears. This was happening. They knew. They've always known. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Oh god what was happening. She looked desperately to her mother, expecting to find coldness, disappointment or even hatred spurring from her mother's eyes but she didn't. "Mami," Santana choked out, "I-I can explain -"

"You don't need to mija," Marie said gently, "it's okay."

"Really?" Santana asked in a quiet voice, afraid that her mother was going to turn on her at any given moment. Her eyes fell to the table burning holes in the cloth, suddenly ashamed for lying to her mother about everything.

"Mija, look at me," Santana lifted her eyes, "I love you Santana, and if Brittany is the one person who makes you happy then she could be a turtle for all I care."

Santana felt a tear slip from her lids and she quickly wiped it away with her wrist, "mami thank you. Thank you so much."

"So...are you?" Marie asked softly, reaching over to grab Santana's other hand on the table, she ran her thumb over the back of Santana's hand in a comforting gesture.

Santana swallowed nervously, trying to calm herself. Everything was going to be okay, she told herself. Her mother still loved her. She felt Brittany squeeze the hand beneath the table and she turned to look at her, her eyes didn't move from Brittany's as she answered, "I'm in love with Brittany mami...I- I'm gay."

She felt her mother's arms around her, pulling her into a hug and she sighed with relief. It felt as if a thousand weights had been lifted from her chest and she could finally _breathe_. She started to giggle, bewildered; this hadn't turned out like she had expected it to. She couldn't really believe it, that this was all real; it felt like something out of a dream. Her mother loved her - all of her - and she could have Brittany and still have her mother. It was all so overwhelming to her that she started to cry and her mother just held her tighter, brushing her hair back and whispering 'it's okay'.

After a few moments, the two Latina's let go of each other, sinking back to their seats and wiping away their escaping tears. Brittany and her mother just beamed at the pair, Brittany had been tearing up as well.

Santana pulled herself together and looked to Sheryl, "a-are you okay with this? With Brittany and me, I mean?"

"Of course I am!" Sheryl said with a wide smile and looked at her daughter and nodded, "Brittany's always been something else."

"Yeah," Santana agreed a little breathless and Brittany just grinned happily, "but that's not all you wanted to know is it."

"No, it's not," Sheryl nodded, "what's happening with you two? Ditching school almost every week, are those kids giving you a hard time Santana?"

Santana couldn't answer, conflicted. She didn't want to stress her mother more than she already had, telling their parents that they'd been slushied almost every day and taunted would only add to that. It wasn't anything too serious yet either, she could handle it - she had to.

"No, we're okay." Brittany answered for her, and Santana wished it was true.

* * *

**Did you like this chapter? Have a suggestion? Please tell me and review! :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Sorry for dragging out this flashback but I really just thought it'd be better to get it all out of the way, I think the pacing of it all would get messed up if I continued this same flashback randomly throughout the story. Also if you hadn't noticed, name change to 'Safe Is Anywhere With You'!**

**Thank you so so much for the responses! Also I'd like to say big thank you to my beta alexwilliamson101 who is totally awesome :)**

* * *

Chapter 7

_Two Months Before the Runaway_

Santana couldn't quite pinpoint the feeling that had slithered its way stealthily into her conscience. For some reason, it just didn't sit quite right.

One moment she was perfectly fine - calm almost - and then the next she was tensed, the hair on the back of her neck prickling and her blood felt as though it was turning into ice. Suddenly she was afraid, but of what, she had no idea. It nagged at her, it made her stomach squirm uneasily and it felt like her skin was crawling as her heart started to pick up pace. She fidgeted nervously in her seat, not paying attention to the teacher at the front of the class.

_What the fuck_, she thought. She was panicking. Santana began to recognise this gut wrenching feeling that started to sound like alarm bells in her head as some sort of sixth sense telling her that something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.

She breathed out a sigh of relief as the end of the day bell rang but it was short lived, the uncomfortable feeling still very there in her gut. Moving without much thought, her legs started to carry her quickly out of the doors and into the parking lot, hoping that seeing Brittany there waiting for her next to her car, just like always, would calm her down.

Except Brittany wasn't there.

"_Okay_," She breathed to herself, this wasn't something to panic over; she needed to calm the fuck down. Maybe Brittany was held up in class, maybe she forgot something in her locker - this was no reason to freak out anymore than what she already was. But she couldn't quite let herself believe that, like some invisible rope tied this feeling and this fact together.

She drummed her nails nervously against the binder she gripped tightly against her chest, her eyes flickering across the school parking lot. Every glimmer of blonde hair caught her eye, but it wasn't her blonde and as the lot slowly began to empty, her nerves ate her sanity away. She fished for her phone in her pocket, her hands shaking as she sent Brittany a text:

_Britt Britt, where are you? X_

She didn't wait for a reply, her body moving of its own accord, she started walking back towards the school. Every step she took echoed along with the sound of the beat of her own heart.

And that's when she heard the scream. Brittany - Brittany screaming her name.

And then Santana was running. The binder slipping from her hands, as her legs pounded against the pavement, feeling like they weighed a tonne.

* * *

Brittany never liked Shannon, and she almost always loved _everyone_.

Shannon was slightly bigger than the other girls; more bulky in build, especially around the shoulders, but still feminine; an ex-gymnast. Not the best dancer, but her tumbling skills were enough to land her a place in the prestigious Cheerio Squad. She was the typical cheerleading stereotype; blonde, bitchy, beautiful.

But ever since that time after Cheerios practice where she had heard Shannon bitching about two ninth grade girls, calling them ugly dyke bitches in the change rooms, Brittany learned enough to know to stay away. She didn't like the way Shannon would spit out the word 'dyke' in such a horrible, cruel way as if the word was so disgusting and putrid that she couldn't wait to be rid of the taste of it in her mouth.

And then word started getting around about Santana and her, and Shannon started using the word dyke to her face.

She never used it around Santana – no, Shannon was smarter than that; she had a bit of self-preservation. She'd hold back awhile, wait for the few fleeting seconds until Brittany was alone at her locker, before hissing the word and shoving Brittany into her locker with her shoulder. Then there were the others; Shannon's little minions, three girls that followed Shannon around in a way that reminded Brittany of baby ducklings following their mother duck, but Brittany didn't find it cute at all. These girls would join in occasionally on the taunts, seeking for Shannon's eye of approval.

Brittany never said anything to Santana about this; she forced herself to be strong; brave.

And that was why Brittany hated gym class; she shared it with Shannon and her friends, and not with Santana. She kept her head down and her eyes averted for the entire class until the bell rang, breathing a sigh of relief as it went. She picked up her bag, slung it over her shoulder and left the gym building – running smack bang into Shannon and her friends.

"Oh my god! Get _off_ me, dyke!" Shannon spat shoving Brittany away, the girls behind her snickered.

Brittany didn't respond, instead ducking her head trying to move past the other girls, but Shannon side stepped her, cutting Brittany off.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Home," Brittany mumbled.

"Home?" Shannon mocked fake surprise, "what with like _parents_?"

"Yes?" Brittany said, looking at the girl in confusion.

"I didn't think lesbians had parents who wanted to _keep_ them."

Brittany tried to hide the hurt on her face, but it felt like she'd been punched in the gut. Of course her parents wanted to keep her, why wouldn't they?

"If I was a lesbian, my mother would have killed me, I would have killed myself to be honest. How can your mother love such an abomination? I'm pretty sure she couldn't."

"Leave me alone," Brittany said in a low voice, she brought her eyes up to look directly at Shannon who looked almost taken aback at the contact.

"No, you should leave _us_ alone." Shannon sneered, collecting herself, "Lesbians don't belong here."

"It's so feral," another girl piped up and Shannon hummed in agreement.

"What do you want?" Brittany almost whined.

"For you to leave our fucking school, you and your lesbian slut," Shannon said, inching ever so slightly closer to Brittany, closing in on her.

Every word felt like a separate slushy to the face, only colder, harder and a thousand times more brutal. Brittany could feel her face getting hot, the pressure in the air felt suddenly denser and she could hear the unsteady thrumming of her heart in her ears, feel it in her throat.

"Don't talk about Santana like that." Brittany hissed. The words made Brittany tear up with rage as something red hot seemed to build in her stomach. She clenched her fist trying to relieve the surmounting anger inside of her; she'd never felt so close to losing control.

"Like what?"

"L-like she's nothing," Brittany stammered, "you can't do that."

"But she_ is_ nothing, just like you." Shannon was moving closer to Brittany, but Brittany didn't back away, standing her ground. She'd do this for Santana, she'd stand up for herself - she had to.

"She is not nothing," Brittany growled as wet tears finally slipped down her cheeks and shoved the other blonde away.

Shannon looked as if she had been electrocuted, "Don't _you dare touch me, fucking disgusting dyke!_" The girl's fist connected with Brittany who doubled over in pain, terrified and shocked.

* * *

The world felt like somebody had hit the slow motion button, slowing down time and every noise seemed to have been muted; like when you duck your head under water and everything goes quiet as if you put plugs in your ears. Santana felt like she was outside of her body, watching everything take place as if she was just a bystander and for a moment she was completely frozen, paralysed in horror.

Brittany was on the ground alone, an unmoving crumpled heap on the pavement and for a second Santana had feared the worst. Her whole body felt numb.

"Brittany?" Santana croaked, she couldn't find her voice, she couldn't find her body; she thought she was going to collapse.

The blonde heap stirred, a shudder ripping through her body and Santana was by her side in an instant crouched beside her and lifting her tenderly in her lap. Santana hadn't realised she was crying until her body shook with quiet sobs as she brushed the blonde hair away from her girlfriend's face. Brittany's eyes were lidded, her cheeks and nose, wet with tears and she was pale, so pale.

"Fuck, Brittany!" Santana said trying to gently move the girl into consciousness.

The blonde's eyes fluttered open and she looked like a deer caught in the headlights, she looked wildly around and Santana gasped as Brittany jumped out of her arms and backed up against the wall, curling into her body; protecting herself. She was shaking so violently.

"Brittany it's me! It's me!" Santana tried to assure her, moving closer to the blonde.

"San-Santana?" Santana cringed, Brittany's voice was so quiet and weak it felt like someone had slit her heart open.

"It's me, baby it's Santana." Santana said and crawled to kneel in front of Brittany and brought her hands to cup Brittany's face. The blonde stiffened at the contact and didn't look up as she tried to move away but Santana held her face firmly in place. "Please don't be scared of me, it's me, baby I'm here."

* * *

"It's me," Santana repeated before Brittany finally collapsed into her arms, sobbing into her as the Latina wrapped her arms around Brittany who buried her face against her neck. Brittany could feel the sharp pang of pain in her ribs and it made her cry harder. She couldn't stop her body from shaking, she couldn't control it; there was this crippling fear that seized her body, taking control. She just kept having flashes of the memory of Shannon standing over her and she couldn't blink them away like the tears that fell down her face.

"Who hurt you?" Santana whispered, running her fingers soothingly against Brittany's scalp.

"Sh-Shannon," Brittany whimpered, she knew she had to tell Santana; she couldn't hide it anymore, she didn't want to, and she felt so weak, afraid and embarrassed. She tried to hold her own, tried to stand up for them and she failed, she was beaten down, it was humiliating. She felt Santana's arms tense around her and then slowly slip away, Santana was going to run for Shannon, Brittany knew it. "Please," Brittany murmured, she needed Santana, "don't go."

"I'm not going anywhere," Santana said and squeezed Brittany gently. Brittany gasped.

"Ow, my ribs hurt." She hissed quietly. She didn't mean to say it, she didn't want to worry Santana.

"Oh my god Britt, I'm so sorry," Santana cried and loosened her grip, "I fucking let this happen, I'm so sorry, I should have been here."

"Stop." Brittany mumbled into her chest; she was too tired, too weak.

* * *

_The Night Before The Runaway_

Looking back at the past two months, Santana couldn't believe how fucked up their lives had been

How they had survived the past two months, Santana couldn't figure out, and how Shannon was still alive and breathing in the halls of McKinley, was a total mystery.

Brittany didn't want to tell anyone about Shannon, and of course Santana listened. Brittany lied and told her mother she'd taken a bad fall during Cheerio practice and Sheryl let her daughter stay home as her cracked ribs healed. Brittany forced Santana to go to school and the first day Santana slammed her tiny fists into Shannon's face, earning her a three day suspension. Shannon stayed away from her then, going out of her way to avoid the Latina at all costs.

When Brittany had returned to school, it made everything more bearable, Shannon and her minions had left the two of them alone, mainly out of fear of Santana. But that didn't stop the slushies, the low whispers behind her back, the judgmental looks and suddenly they were being frozen out by the entire cheerleading squad. They were alone; nobody wanted anything to do with them.

People were just too afraid, they thought that by even associating themselves with the two girls could jeopardize their entire reputation and their reputation was more suddenly important than their moral code. These people didn't even have a shred of decency in their pathetic souls.

What Santana hated the most was that Brittany was seeing it all, she finally was seeing how truly twisted and cruel the world could be and she was disappointed. Santana hated that, she hated that she couldn't shield Brittany's perfect vision of the world, she hated knowing that the world let Brittany down. Santana had spent her whole time envying the way Brittany perceived the world, she loved how the blonde could find the most insignificant things beautiful, it made those piercing blue eyes glimmer with the subtlest of lights. But now, that light dimmed and Santana was furious at the world for letting it happen.

And of course there was the guilt. It was like a cloak that covered Santana that she couldn't shake off, reminding her to not let herself be happy because she was the one who caused it all. She was the one to blame here. It was her fault and she hated herself so, so much for that. She never breathed a word if that fact to Brittany, though.

"At least," Brittany said that day during lunch in school, "we don't have to hide anymore." Santana forced a soft smile as Brittany laced their fingers together, "at least I can hold your hand in public now."

Santana nodded and Brittany continued, "I like not having to hide from my parents either. Have you told your dad yet?"

"No, I haven't," Santana sighed and Brittany squeezed her hand.

"I wish you would," Brittany murmured, "I like your dad, he deserves to know."

"But you don't know how he is Britt," Santana said, staring down at her untouched plate of food, "you can't know how he would react to us."

"Are you ashamed of us?" Brittany asked, sounding almost hurt.

"What? No, of course not," it was Santana's turn to squeeze the hand in hers, "I-I'm just, you know, nervous about it all."

"Mm," Brittany hummed, unconvinced.

Santana sighed heavily in defeat, "I'm going to tell him tonight."

Santana tried not to notice the way Brittany's eyes lit up brightly, "Really?" she asked.

"Yeah," Santana tried to smother the nervous tension in her gut, but she was terrified. She had no idea how her father would react, he was religious in some senses but Santana had always been his little girl and besides Brittany, he was the one person who made her feel safe and protected. She looked up to her father, adored him and she never wanted to disappoint him. So naturally, she was nervous.

"You don't have to do it for me," Brittany said gently, sensing Santana's hesitation.

"No," Santana shook her head, "I'm doing this for me, and for us. I don't like hiding us anymore than you ever did."

"Okay," Brittany smiled warmly before gingerly wrapping her arms around Santana and hugging her.

"Okay." Santana repeated quietly, more to herself than Brittany, as if she was trying to convince herself that it was all going to be okay.

* * *

"_Are you sure you don't want me there? I can come right over if you want_." Brittany said, and Santana could hear Brittany's anxiety through the phone.

"No, it's alright Britt, I can handle this," Santana reassured, even though it was a lie. She didn't think she could handle this, and she desperately wanted Brittany by her side. She gave her courage and strength and a warmth that made her feel invincible; Brittany was exactly what Santana needed at that moment but Santana couldn't let her come.

She needed to do this alone, and to be frank, she was afraid of what might happen if Brittany was there. What if her father reacted badly, tried to insult Brittany? Santana could never let that happen. And maybe, it'd be a bit easier for Carlos to take it all in if he didn't have the two of them there together, waving their conjoined hands in his face.

"_Are you sure?"_

"Yes, Britt. I'll be okay."

"_Okay, well...good luck. Lord Tubbington and I will be thinking of you. We're so proud of you._"

"Thanks babe."

"_Oh, and Santana?"_

"Yeah, sweetie?"

"_I love you_."

"Love you too, Britt." Santana smiled to herself before hanging up the phone and let out a sigh for what felt like the hundredth time that day, collapsing onto her bed.

The sound of the garage door opening made Santana's stomach do anxious flip-flops and her heart started to pick up pace again. She lied flat on her back on her bed and closed her eyes, listening to the muted conversations between her mami and papi down below. She inhaled two deep breaths before sitting up and off the bed.

"Santana! La cena esta lista!" Marie called.

"I'm coming!" Santana called back and looked at her own reflection briefly in her mirror. "C'mon Lopez, you've got this," she told herself, trying to squeeze some confidence desperately from her mind but she was still a quivering, nervous wreck. She wriggled her shoulders, loosening up her body as would an athlete before a game, before swinging the door open and descending the staircase.

Carlos Lopez stood by the kitchen bench, reading the paper that sat upon it, he turned when Santana entered and gave her a warm smile.

"Mija, how was your day?" he said.

"It was fine," Santana said not meeting his eyes, and started setting up the dining table; placing the knife and forks down, doing anything she could to distract herself from the nervous twisting in her stomach that felt like a billion bugs were crawling inside of her. After she was done she went to grab a glass of water, which was a stupid idea because her hands were shaking and made the water slosh around noisily.

She was thankful that Marie had finished cooking and set the plates down full of food, and Santana took a seat across from her father at the dining table. She picked up her knife and fork but couldn't bring herself to do anything else. The nerves had gotten to her and she froze up, as if it was squeezing every muscle in her body so tight that she couldn't move. She just sat there staring at her plate, trying to find a hold on her breathing that had become shorter and quicker with panic.

"Santana, why aren't you eating?" Her mother asked, her fork hovering over her meal. She looked at Santana in mild concern, Carlos mirroring the expression. Santana didn't move, didn't lift her eyes from the plate and took several gulps of air trying to swallow this fear that had encapsulated her.

"What's wrong?" Her father said.

Santana opened her mouth and finally spoke, "Papa, I have to tell you something."

She tried to ignore the way her mother's face drained of colour and how her knife and fork clattered clumsily around as she tried to busy herself with food. Carlos looked at his wife curiously before turning back to Santana.

"What is it honey?"

"I..." Santana trailed off.

"You can tell us anything, mija. Go on," he nodded her on.

"You know how I got suspended for getting into that fight with that girl, Shannon?" Santana began slowly.

"Yes," Carlos frowned, "because she was teasing you wasn't she?"

"Uh, not exactly," Santana paused and inhaled, "I hit her, because she hurt Brittany."

"Why did she hurt Brittany? Brittany is such a lovely girl!" Carlos asked, confused.

"Because sh-she knows something... about Brittany and I, that she didn't like," Santana tried to hint, hoping, but afraid at the same time, that he'd piece together what she was saying before she actually had to say it, but still he looked at her in confusion.

"What is it?"

"Papi, I care for Brittany," Santana said clearly, talking about Brittany seemed to draw out this hidden confidence from within her, a passion that made it easier for her to think, "I love Brittany... and not just in the friend way." Her father's face froze, his eyes glazed over, frozen with this dazed expression but Santana continued, "and she loves me too. What I'm trying to say is, Brittany and I, we're more than best friends... she's my girlfriend papi, and I love her more than I ever thought was possible. She is everything I could have ever wanted, and she makes me feel like... like I can be anything, _anyone_ I want to be. She's the love of my life."

She almost let herself smile at that, thinking of Brittany and saying that out loud felt better than she could possibly imagine. Finally she understood why Brittany had pushed her to come out to her father; it felt so good not to hide, not to lie, and to someone as important as her father. It felt good to know that she let him in; it was more than just an obligation, after everything he had done for her he deserved to know the truth, know his daughter in every possible way and sharing that with him felt like she was standing a hundred feet above everyone else.

"You- You're not gay, Santana."

Santana whipped her head up, her mouth fell open, "w-what?"

"You're not gay, Santana." Carlos repeated firmly, his eyes boring into her own, "my daughter is not a lesbian."

"Papi, I am, I-"

"No, I raised you right," Carlos shook his head and Santana's stomach dropped, and he spoke more gently, "this - what you're going through, it's a phase sweetheart, you don't know how you feel."

"_Of course I know how I feel!_" Santana shouted in outrage, and she felt confused and hurt and betrayed all at once and the tears began to pool in her eyes. The way he spoke to her, condescended her, like she was nothing but a silly child, hurt more than she would have ever expected. Being told that what she and Brittany had wasn't real? It infuriated her and it pained her.

"Don't raise your voice, Santana -"

"This is _not_ just some _phase_. _Brittany_ is not just some phase." Santana said, "I am in love with her, papi, she is the first thing I've ever been sure of."

Carlos eyes wavered and to Santana's shock, they glistened with tears and Santana felt like she had been ripped apart.

"What did I do to deserve this?" He said shaking his head, "where did I go wrong? How could I have done this – let this happen? Marie, am I a bad father? I must be."

Marie didn't answer, she seemed paralysed in her own little world, her mouth gaping and looking at no one in particular. Santana felt like she had been crushed, as if she was just a bug under the tire of a truck, as if someone had drained every shred of light, happiness and hope from her body. And she started to feel _guilty_. She had hurt her father, she betrayed him.

"Papi, no! You didn't do anything wrong, I love you, you didn't do anything!"

"_Then how is my daughter a fucking lesbian?_" He roared and Santana and Marie both jumped in their seats, their eyes wide at the sudden outburst. This wasn't like Carlos; calm Carlos, gentle, loving and kind Carlos, no. This man that sat red in his chair, screaming and with a look of pure disgust in his eyes – this wasn't the father Santana had known.

"_Carlos!_" Marie shouted.

"Did you know Marie? _You knew about this didn't you?_" He spat rising from his chair and towering above the dining table, Santana felt so small in her chair, her heart sinking and her vision spinning in her head.

"_Papi_ -" Santana pleaded, her silent tears turned into sobs that tightened her throat and made it hard for her to breath.

"Don't you dare call me your father, you are not my daughter. I didn't raise this –you."

She felt like someone had shot her, kicked her and it was worse than any feeling she had ever felt, almost as bad as when she had found Brittany lying broken on the floor. But now she felt broken. It was if someone had tied her to a stake and lit her body on fire, then let a mob of people stone her to death. She felt beaten, battered.

"_Carlos, stop!_" Marie gasped.

"No, Santana get out of my house, I will not let someone who disgraced this family like you have, live under the same roof as mine. Leave now, pack your bags and get out."

"But, dad -"

"_Go_. I don't want to look at you."

She was blinded by her tears as she shot up from her seat and flew up the stairs, her sobs tearing through her body and ached at her chest. She could faintly hear her mother shouting her name from down below and then the raised voices of a heated argument between her parents, but she heard it as if she was on the other side of a glass wall.

She couldn't believe this was happening, every thought in her brain seemed to be screaming and she couldn't think properly, her head was pounding and all she could barely think was get out. Go.

Santana dived through her closet, her hands shaking violently as if she was stuck in her own little earthquake, and pulled out two suitcases and began stuffing all of her clothes and shoes into them. This was it, she'd fucked everything up, and the weight of the world came crashing down on her all at once. Every cell in her body screamed in protest, telling her to just give up, collapse, but she kept moving, moving seemed like the only thing she could do.

She zipped the bags and heaved it down the stairs and out the front door, not listening to the sound of her mother's pleas for her to stay. She kept on moving.

She had to keep on moving.

* * *

**Did you like this chapter? Have any feedback? Please let me know and review!**

**PM me if you have any questions :)**

**Freddrick Lou-Zar: To answer your question, YES! I will be bringing in a few familiar faces, as for who they are...well, that's a surprise ;)**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: So here's some sort of happy chapter, I think I owe you guys something less emotionally draining! Thank you to alexwilliamson101 my lovely beta :)**

**Soundtrack: Sweet Disposition by The Temper Trap**

* * *

Chapter 8

_Present_

"No. No way. Nuh-uh."

"C'mon San, pleeeeeeease?"

Santana gulped nervously, her palms were sweating and her stomach lurched forward. She was scared shitless and all she was doing was looking.

"B-Britt I can't do it," Santana stammered, "I just can't."

"It won't be that bad, I pinkie promise!" Brittany assured. She came up behind Santana, wrapping her arms around the brunette's stomach and, resting her head on Santana's shoulder, nuzzled her neck. She breathed in her ear, "I'll hold you the entire time! You don't have to be scared."

Santana shook her head slowly. Why had she agreed to this? This was fucking insane.

"You'll be fine, you can do this," Brittany whispered, placing a soft warm kiss on Santana's shoulder, "_please?_"

Santana twisted her head to look at Brittany. Blue orbs stared back with such an excited and hopeful intensity it made Santana's heart stutter. She sighed in defeat, earning her a dazzling wide grin from Brittany. Santana rolled her eyes at their silent communication.

"It's so..._big_." Santana murmured turning back look at the scene in front of her.

The two girls stared silently for a moment at the giant hot air balloon being inflated in front of them, the edges of it rippling as air eased inside of it. A young man was bent over attaching the burner to the basket and fiddling with the mechanism. Santana's breath came in short quick gasps, her whole body felt tingly – but not in the good way. It was the bad kind of tingly sensation; the kind that made the hairs on your arm rise, constricts your throat and you feel like at any moment your stomach is going to fall out of your mouth.

She couldn't believe she was going to do this. _The shit I'd do for Brittany_, Santana thought, almost bitterly.

"It looks like a fucking picnic basket," Santana whined in a low voice, surely that thing wasn't even safe. Why would people subject themselves to this? She was certain this had to be classed as some sort of suicidal act of desperation. Maybe all this shit had gotten into Brittany's and her head and they were really going bat-shit crazy.

"Stop being such a baby," Brittany teased and squeezed lightly around Santana's waist.

"Not helping." Santana muttered. She swallowed thickly, trying to shove away the crippling fear that had taken over her body. She almost laughed at her pathetic self; here she was, fearless Santana _bad-ass_ Lopez, cowering in fear over a stupid hot air balloon ride. Pathetic. But ever since she was little she had been terrified, completely consumed by this fear of heights. She'd even get nervous standing on a fucking _escalator_ in the mall; always having to grip the side rail tightly; _just in case_, she had told herself.

"C'mon," Brittany urged, dropping her hands to grab Santana's hand instead, lacing their fingers together and pulling the reluctant Latina along towards the pilot.

"It's a bit windy don't you think?" Santana said hopefully, "it's probably too windy."

Brittany rolled her eyes, not feeling the faintest breeze on her skin. The sun was lowering in the sky, bathing the soft long grass in a warm orange light and everything was oddly peaceful - except for Santana's heart which seemed to be racing at a million miles an hour. The basket was now sitting upright, the fire lit and the hot air pushing the balloon upwards, only to be held down by a few ropes. The pilot was talking into his radio transmitter, giving the two approaching girls a warm smile as he glanced up at them. His hair was a chocolate brown, messily swaying in the breeze and his eyes were a vivid blue, his slightly chubby cheeks pinching in the corners as he smiled; he was sort of cute in a dorky way.

"Af'noon ladies," he said in a thick Irish accent that Santana found hard to understand, beaming at them as he held out his hand, Brittany shaking it first and then Santana, "me names Rory, I'll be accompanying you on your trip today."

"Hi, I'm Brittany," Brittany smiled back warmly, looping her arm through Santana's.

"Santana," Santana offered shortly, too preoccupied with the nervous jitters in her stomach to make any attempt at small talk.

"Wonderful, are we excited?" Rory asked.

"Very!" Brittany giggled and Santana just gulped again. She couldn't help but notice how the wires of the hot air balloon seemed to shudder against the wind or how the menacing power lines above their heads seemed extremely threatening to their safety.

"So I'm jus' goin' to go through some safety precautions," Rory said clapping his hands together, "make sure ta keep your hands and feet inside the 'vehicle' at all times and when you're taking photos keep the wristband tight around yer wrist. When we land, we actually come down at a 45 degree angle so -"

"_What!_" Santana gasped. Oh she was _not_ okay with that.

Rory laughed, "don' worry it isn't as scary as it sounds -"

"- The hell it isn't -"

"Santana," Brittany said sternly, "don't be rude."

"Trust me, it's quiet fun. And you'll be safe, you kind of jus' lie down and there's a rope and rail to hold onto so you won't fall out." Rory assured but Santana's mouth fell open, her face paling. Her body was quivering with dread, and she could feel the panic escalating so fast she thought her heart was going to pop. She was sticky with cold sweat and there was a distant ringing in her ears that had her worried she was about to faint.

Brittany leaned over and kissed her gently on cheek. "You're going to be fine," she whispered and rubbed Santana's arm soothingly.

"I need a drink." was all Santana said, the blonde laughed and Santana tried to relax.

"Okay, well! Shall we get this show on the road – or in the _air_ I should say," Rory deadpanned but Santana didn't ease up. In fact it had the opposite effect, instead she was just reminded that in just a few moments she'd be boxed up in a floating picnic basket with no parachute, no harness, absolutely nothing to save her from an inevitable death. She clutched Brittany's hand in hers fiercely, needing any kind of support she could get. She felt as if at any given moment, her knees would give out from beneath her.

Rory walked over to the basket and opened the gate, gesturing for them to enter. Santana just stood there frozen with Brittany trying to nudge her along.

"P-promise you'll hold me?" Santana said in a weak voice.

"The whole time," Brittany promised, and wrapped both arms around Santana as if to prove her point. "You ready?"

"Nope."

* * *

"Oh. _Oh. Oh!_" Santana gasped, she gripped the rails of the basket desperately as it slowly began to rise. "_Shit! SHIT!_"

She didn't like this. Not one bit. The hot air balloon began its climb upwards and Santana felt like somebody had pulled all her guts out of her body. She felt weightless, as if she was standing on air – on nothing – and she didn't have the slightest amount of control over her body, it was just floating up and up against her will - like one of those nightmares.

"Santana," Brittany laughed, hugging her tightly, "open your eyes."

"No." Santana refused, shaking her head profusely.

"Look Santana," Brittany breathed, "it's beautiful."

Santana groaned as she slowly tried to peak open one eye, leaning her back against Brittany who had her arms wrapped around Santana from behind. Through the small gap between her lids she saw an expanse of green valleys and clear blue sky, they were still rising. With much will power, she forced both eyes open, her breathing hitched and she had to admit, the view was breathtaking.

The small rolls and gentle curves of the hills seemed to meld into the soft blue at the horizon, the sun blurring the lines to where earth ended and heaven began. Everything seemed to glow orange as the sun sank lower and lower in the sky and for just a moment, with Brittany's arms holding her safe like that, Santana forgot all her fears. It was so eerily peaceful. Up here, in the almost tauntingly grand expanse of the sky, the world below seemed incredibly insignificant. It was as if everything, all their problems, were left behind; forgotten on the ground, shrinking smaller and smaller like the cars on the highway and Santana felt sudden relief, like the chains had been lifted from her body. She felt _free_.

"Beautiful," Santana echoed.

"You are," Brittany said softly, making Santana's heart skip a beat. Santana turned to look at her girlfriend, her heart thrumming rapidly for an entire different reason and, as she looked into Brittany's eyes, she had to think that the world was nothing compared to what was right in front of her. To call Brittany beautiful was a harsh understatement; an insult, ridiculing what Brittany truly was...

"Perfect," Santana said aloud. Brittany quirked an eyebrow and looked at her curiously, as if pressing her to clarify. "You're perfect."

Santana smiled as she watched the blush rise in Brittany's pale cheeks. The blonde didn't say anything; instead she leant forward and pressed a soft chaste kiss against Santana's lips, their lips sliding perfectly together. Electricity pulsed quickly through Santana's body, sending the good kind of tingles to the ends of her fingertips. No matter how many times they kissed, it always felt like their first.

Brittany pulled away, resting their foreheads against each other, enjoying the way their warm breath mixed with each other. "When did you turn into such a cheese?" Brittany teased lightly.

"It's all you Britt," Santana replied with a lopsided grin.

"Oh!" Brittany said suddenly and dug through the pocket of her jacket, she smiled as she pulled out her small digital pink camera. "Pictures!"

"Don' forget yer wrist strap," Rory reminded and Santana jumped, she had forgotten he was even there. The man just smiled warmly at the pair before turning back to face the horizon.

Brittany slipped her wrist into the strap and tightened it. The small LCD lit up as she turned the camera on. She held the camera out in front of them, the lens facing their faces.

"Smile!" Brittany ordered and Santana lent against Brittany's cheek, a lazy grin on her face as the shutters closed and opened again with a click.

Brittany turned her face to pucker her lips against Santana's cheek and snapped another photo, and then another where their lips were just barely grazing. They started pulling faces at the camera, not bothering to look at the outcome and just enjoying the poses.

"You know, people usually take photos of the view – not each other." Santana pointed out with a laugh.

"But why take a picture of that when something a billion times prettier is right here next to me?" Brittany said and Santana grinned largely at her girlfriend echoing her previous thoughts.

Then the basket swayed gently with the breeze.

"_Fuck!_" Santana yelped, terrified and practically jumped on top of Brittany, "_we're going to die!_"

The perfect moment shattered as her gut-wrenching fear found its way into her body, crippling her calm, serene demeanour. She felt like she had just fell off the peak of a roller coaster as her stomach seemed to plummet to the ground below, leaving her body entirely. And she felt, once again, like she was floating with no control over how her body moved.

"Santana, it's okay!" Brittany said, encircling her arms around the shaking Latina.

"The wind! The _wind!_" Santana screamed frantically as a soft wind barely rocked the basket, her eyes were wide in panic. It was going to tip, she was sure of it. Her legs tangled around Brittany's, clutching on for dear life. "I don't want to die Britt! I'm too young to die!"

There was a brief moment of silence as Brittany and Rory glanced at each other before bursting out into hysterical fits of laughter. Santana just stared wildly at them.

"This is _not_ funny!" Santana shrieked, only making Brittany and Rory laugh harder, the two going red in the face as tears swelled in the corner of their eyes. Santana shook in Brittany's arms as the blonde was completely over taken with giggles, Santana blushed furiously.

"It's...just... a _breeze_ S-Santana!" Brittany choked out between chuckles, squeezing her tightly as she laughed into Santana's hair.

"It wasn't _just_ a fucking breeze! We could have tipped! We almost died, I swear!" Santana fumed, embarrassed, "And _stop laughing!_"

"I'm s-sorry," Brittany giggled, and bit down on her lip, "it's just, you're so adorable!"

"'_I'm too young to die!'_" Rory imitated in his thick accent and both Brittany and he erupted into another round of uncontrollable giggles.

"Fuck the both of you." Santana mumbled as Brittany started kissing the top of her head, Rory and her still shaking with laughter.

* * *

"This one is definitely my favourite." Brittany said as the image of Santana and her with their lips lightly touching and both their eyes open and peeking at the lens was displayed on her camera's LCD screen. Santana sat next to her in a booth at Burger King, their bodies pressed close together as they hunched over to look at the small camera.

"I thought you said the 'duck face one' was your favourite one?" Santana asked, bringing the cup of soft drink to her lips and taking a sip.

"No, it's my favourite silly face photo," Brittany corrected her, "_this_ is my overall favourite."

"Me too," Santana agreed and sighed contently. "Thank you by the way, for today."

Brittany smiled, "so you're not still mad?"

"Nah," Santana said. She had gotten over the whole hot air balloon situation, even though the landing had gone _far_ from smooth to her. It was bumpy and the basket that felt as solid as paper shook so violently that it left Santana in a screaming and utterly terrified mess. It didn't take much for her to break out into sobs and Brittany had finally gotten a hold on her laughter long enough to actually comfort her. "But I might have to kick leprechaun's ass for almost killing mine."

Brittany snorted, "I liked him... he was nice. But your right, we wouldn't want anything bad to hurt your perfectly round ass now, would we?"

Santana had to bite back a grin, "exactly."

"I'm sorry though," Brittany said softly, "I shouldn't have pushed you so hard, I should've known you'd be frightened. I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay. Don't be sorry," Santana said, sensing that Brittany was talking about more than just today, "it was totally worth it."

"Yeah?" Brittany allowed a small hopeful smile.

"Of course," Santana said sincerely, "it was actually one of the best times of my life. You know, besides the whole almost dying thing." Brittany laughed and leant her head against Santana's shoulder. It was true what Santana had said - it really was one of the best times of her life but if she asked herself what made it so special she'd have to say it was Brittany.

When she was with Brittany, magical things seemed to happen, things she had never expected to; things like love and happiness - things she never planned on having but with Brittany she got more than she deserved. It was like Brittany _was_ magic, enchanting, and somehow that magic broke through Santana's walls and found a way to steal her heart and turn her world upside down.

"Why 'ello again!"

Brittany and Santana looked up to see Rory smiling brightly at them at the end of their table carrying a tray of food, a smaller girl with long caramel hair and mousy facial features stood beside him, holding his hand and smiling at them too.

"Speak of the devil," Santana muttered but smiled kindly at the other couple.

"Rory!" Brittany greeted happily, "what are you doing here?"

"Just grabbing a bite with my girlfriend," Rory said, looking lovingly down at the girl beside him, "this 'ere is Sugar. Sugar, this is Brittany and Santana."

"Hi!" Sugar bubbled, bouncing a little where she stood. Santana eyed the girl skeptically; she seemed way too energetic for 8 o'clock at night.

"Hey," Brittany grinned, "do you guys want to eat with us?"

Santana suppressed a groan. She didn't really mind leprechaun or his hypo girlfriend but she was just in no mood to spend time with people other than Brittany. In fact, she was never really in the mood for anyone other than Brittany.

"Yeah sure, that'd be great!" Rory said and slid into the seat across to them, Sugar following suit.

The four of them ate their meals and chatted away, Brittany and Rory doing most of the talking. Santana felt a little uncomfortable when Sugar's eyes watched curiously as Brittany brought a napkin up to wipe at Santana's lower lip. Santana tried to ignore it, acting nonchalant. The conversation continued for a while, Brittany quickly lying about being on a road trip when Rory had asked about what brought them down here.

"Are you two like, lesbians?" Sugar asked suddenly.

Santana was taken aback as Brittany coughed on her drink, both girls gaping at Sugar, the table fell into an awkward silence.

"Sorry," Sugar said sheepishly, "I have Asperger's."

"That's okay," Brittany said slowly, "but yeah, we're together."

"Okay," Sugar said simply, "you know there's this awesome gay bar nearby. We should take you there."

"That's a great idea!" Rory agreed, nodding enthusiastically. Santana eyed them warily, these two were just way too happy all the time; it hurt her brain just thinking about how much they smiled. "So whaddya say?"

Brittany looked to Santana, a hopeful glint in her eye. Santana sighed, if Brittany wanted to go then there was nothing really that was going to stop her. Santana would do just about anything Brittany wanted, no matter how much she loathed the idea, but this idea at least seemed to mildly peak her interest. A bar meant drinking _and_ dancing; the two things Santana and Brittany loved to do the most. And a _gay_ bar, well.

That was just an added bonus.

* * *

**So, Rory and Sugar weren't my planned surprise characters, but they sort of just found their way in those sneaky bastards. I'm still planning to introduce some more familiar faces but you'll just have to wait to see who ;)**

**And to answer a few questions: This is AU! I'm so silly I forgot to mention it in the summary and yes it WILL have a happy ending!**

**Did you like this chapter? Have any suggestions? Please tell me and REVIEW! :)**

**Or PM if you have any questions or requests!**


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